F 

S2S 


WILSON 

LIFE  OF 
DAVID  W.  PATTEN 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

-> 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


LIFE  OF 

DAVID  W.  PATTEN 


THE  FIRST  APOSTOLIC 
MARTYR. 


LYCURGUS  AV  WILSON. 


Copyrighted  1900. 


1904. 

The  Deseret  News, 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 


TO  THE  MISSIONARIES 

OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

OF  BATTER-DAY  SAINTS,  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD, 

THIS  FEEBLE  SKETCH  OF  THE  LIFE  WORK  OF  ONE  WHOSE 

ENERGIES  WERE  ALL  DEVOTED  TO  THE  SAME 

WORTHY  PURPOSE    AS  THEIR  OWN,    IS 

MOST  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 


Z3I7S       PREFACE. 

Bancroft  Library 


Tlu-  writing  of  this  little  volume  has  been  a  pleasant 
And  just  as  we  find  mingled  with  our  regret  at 
parting  with  a  friend,  a  joy  in  the  assurance  that  to 
\\lmmxM-\vr  lu«  comes  he  will  give  the  same  pleasure  he 
has  afforded  us,  so  the  author  has  a  feeling  in  putting 
out  this  brief  nu»moir  of  David  W.  Patten  that  the  cour- 
age and  faith  manifested  in  his  life  will  not  be  lost  or  un- 
fruitful iirthe  lives  of  those  who  contemplate  his  can «  r 

Then-  remains  only  the  pleasure  of  thanking  those 
who  have  taken  an  interest  in  this  work,  and  their  name 
is  legion.  But  first  of  all  perhaps  is  the  nephew  of 
Apostle  Patten,  Thomas  Jefferson  Patten,  of  Provo, 
fftak 

Particular  mention  should  be  made  of  the  kindness 
-shown  by  the  late  President  Wilford  Woodruff,  by  Presi- 
dent Lorenzo  Snow,  by  President  Joseph  F.  Smith,  by 
the  late  Apostle  Franklin  D.  Richards  and  by  the  late 
President  Abraham  0.  Smoot,  of  Utah  Stake.  In  short, 
all  who  knew,  or  who  have  read  of,  Apostle  David  W. 
Patten,  have  .-reined  to  count  it  a  pleasure  to  do  what- 

ihey  could  to  assist  in  perpetuating  his  memory. 

L.  A.  W. 

Salt    Lake  City,  Utah. 
February   8,   1900. 


OFFICE    OF 


6,  1900. 

To  the  Reader: 

All  the  circumstances  of  my  first  and  last  meeting  with  Apostle 
Da*bid  W.  Patten  are  as  clear  to  my  mind  as  if  it  were  an  occurrence 
of  but  yesterday,  and  yet  it  took  place  some  sixty-four  years  ago. 
He  appeared  to  me  then  to  be.  a  remarkable  man,  and  that  impression 
has  remained  with  me  e*ber  since. 

We  traveled  together  on  horseback  from  my  father's  home,  at 
Mantua,  Ohio,  to  Kirtland,  a  distance  of  perhaps  twenty-five  miles, 
he  on  his  return  from  some  missionary  labor,  I  to  commence  a  course 
of  studies  at  Oberlin  College. 

On  the  *b>ay  our  conversation  fell  upon  religion  and  philosophy, 
and  being  young  and  having  enjoyed  some  scholastic  advantages,  I 
was  at  first  disposed  to  treat  his  opinions  lightly,  especially  so  as 
they  were  not  always  clothed  in  grammatical  language;  but  as  he 
proceeded  in  his  earnest  and  humble  "toay  to  open  up  before  my  mind 
the  plan  of  salvation,  I  seemed  unable  to  resist  the  knowledge  that 
he  was  a  man  of  God  and  that  his  testimony  was  true.  I  felt 
pricked  in  my  heart. 

This  he  evidently  perceived,  for  almost  the  last  thing  he  said  to 
me  after  bearing  his  testimony,  was  that  I  should  go  to  the  Lord  be- 
fore retiring  at  night  and  ask  him  for  myself.  This  I  did  with  the 
result  that  from  the  day  I  met  this  great  Apostle,  all  my  aspirations 
have  been  enlarged  and  heightened  immeasurably.  This  was  the 
turning  point  in  my  life. 

What  impressed  me  most  foas  his  absolute  sincerity,  his  earnest- 
ness and  his  spiritual  power;  and  I  believe  I  cannot  do  better  in  this 
connection  than  to  commend  a  careful  study  of  his  life  to  the  honest 
in  heart  everywhere. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Early  life  of  David  W.  Patten— Parentage—  Marriage— Joins 
the  Methodists  —  Learns  of  the  restoration  of  the  Gospel- 
Visits  his  brother — Resume  of  Church  history  —  Receives 
Baptism — First  mission. 

CHAPTER  II. 

His  procedure  in  administering  to  the  sick— Testimony  as  to 
his  success— Visits  the  Prophet —  Missionary  labors  — Casts 
out  a  "devil" — His  family  baptized— Mrs.  Strong  healed — 
Called  to  Jackson  County. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Condition  of  Saints  in  Missouri— Revelation  to  them — With  Wil- 
liam D.  Pratt,  David  goes  to  Missouri — Ministering  to  the 
suffering — Freedom  from  animosity — Mission  to  Tennessee 
—Healing  of  Mrs.  Lane. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Chosen  an  Apostle — Ordination — Revelation  instructing  the 
Twelve — Date  of  birth — Healing  of  Mrs.  Stearns — Impres- 
sion of  Lorenzo  Snow. 

CHAPTER  V. 

A  period  of  rest — Endowments— Second  mission  to  Tennessee — 
Meets  Wilford  Woodruff  and  Abraham  O.  Smoot— Trial  by 
mob  court — Escape — Interview  with  Cain — Bares  his  breast 
to  a  mob. 


VIII  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

David's  personal  appearance— Healing  of  Abraham  O.  Smoot— 
Margaret  Tittle  healed — Prophecy  at  Paris,  Tennessee- 
Journey  to  Far  West— Visits  Kirtland  during  the  great  apos- 
tasy— Chosen  to  Presidency  in  Missouri —  Revelation —  Ex- 
presses a  wish  to  die  as  a  martyr. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Visits  Adam-ondi-Ahman— Address  to  the  Saints— Spirit  of 
mobocracy  in  Missouri — David  known  as  "Captain  Fear 
Not" — Calms  a  storm — Mobocracy  and  treason — David  suc- 
ceeds to  the  Presidency  of  Twelve. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

His  last  call  to  arms— Battle  of  Crooked  river— David  mortally 
wounded — The  closing  scene — Wilford  Woodruff's  testimony 
— Testimony  of  the  Prophet  Joseph — His  place  behind  the  veil 
revealed. 


UFE 


DAVID  W.  PATTEN. 


'-'-God  gives  me  all  the9 power  I  have.9' 

DAVID  W.  PATTEN. 


I. 

Early  life  of  David  W.  Patten— Parentage —  Marriage — Joins 
the  Methodists  —  Learns  of  the  restoration  of  the  Gospel — 
Visits  his  brother — Resume  of  Church  history  —  Receives 
Baptism— First  mission. 

Great  men  are  the  Lord's  abject  lessons  to  the  world. 
They  hold  out  to  mankind  the  measure  of  truth  committed 
to  their  generation.  As  example  is  greater  than  precept, 
so  a  life  may  state  a  truth  more  forcibly  than  words. 

When  He  answered  the  question  as  to  the  first  great 
commandment,  the  Savior  did  more  than  satisfy  the  idle 
curiosity  of  the  listening  crowd,  He  indicated  one  of  the 
underlying  purposes  of  this  life  and  stated  the  principle  by 
which  the  degree  of  civilization  will  be  determined. 

Measured  by  the  love  he  bore  his  Maker  and  his  fel- 
low-men, few  greater  men  have  ever  lived  than  David  Wy- 


2  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

man  Patten.  With  all  the  intensity  of  his  nature,  he 
served  the  Lord,  and  with  the  same  undivided  purpose  he 
was  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  humanity.  Having  in  mind 
that  divine  precept,  "Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this, 
that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friend,"  the  Prophet 
Joseph  Smith  said  over  the  remains  of  this  great  Apostle, 
"There  lies  a  man  who  has  done  just  as  he  said  he  would 
— he  has  laid  down  his  life  for  his  friends." 

Of  David's  early  life  little  is  known.  While  he  was 
quite  young,  his  parents,  Benenio  Patten  and  Abagail  Cole 
Patten,  removed  from  the  State  of  Vermont,  where  he'  was 
born  about  the  year  1800,  to  the  town  of  Theresa,  at  In- 
dian Elver  Falls,  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New 
York. 

Leaving  home  while  yet  a  boy,  he  made  his  way  to 
the  southeastern  part  of  Michigan,  and  made  himself  a 
home  in  the  woods  a  short  distance  above  the  little  town 
of  Dundee,  in  Monroe  County,  where  he  married  Miss 
Phoebe  Ann  Babcock,  in  1828.  Here,  too,  though  telling 
his  fellow-religionists  that  there  was  no  true  religion  on 
the  earth,  he  allied  himself  with  the  Methodists. 

Having  been  from  youth  of  a  religious  turn  of  mind, 
he  had  received  a  particular  manifestation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Being  ad- 
monished to  humble  himself  before  the  Lord  and  repent 
of  his  sins,  he  enjoyed  for  the  next  three  years  a  close  com- 
munion with  the  Lord,  through  visions  and  dreams  of  the 
night.  In  one  of  these  it  was  made  known  to  him  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  would  be  established  in  his  day,  and  he 
looked  forward  to  such  an  event  with  joyous  anticipation. 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  3 

When  about  the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  as  he  tells 
us  in  his  meager  journal,,  he  became,,  through  the  cares  of 
the  world,  neglectful  in  conduct,  and  remained  so  to  some 
extent  until  he  was  thirty  years  old,  when,  by  sincere  re- 
pentance, he  again  received  a  testimony  that  his  sins  were 
forgiven.  Under  these  conditions  and  at  about  this  time 
he  saw  for  the  first  time  a  copy  of  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
but  only  long  enough  to  read  the  inspired  preface  and  the 
testimony  of  the  eleven  witnesses.  From  this  time  he 
prayed  continually  for  faith  and  a  more  perfect  knowledge. 
Jt  was  while  living  in  anticipation  of  just  such  an  event, 
therefore,  that  he  received,  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1832, 
a  letter  from  his  elder  brother,  John  Patten,  of  Fairplay, 
Indiana,  informing  him  of  the  restoration  of  the  Gospel. 

The  message  fairly  caused  his  heart  to  leap  for  joy. 
He  seemed  conscious  of  the  light  which  was  about  to  burst 
upon  him.  He  knew  by  intuition  that  his  life's  darkness 
was  over,  and  that  henceforward  he  should  walk  in  the 
light  of  eternal  truth.  He  arose  in  the  meeting  that  day 
— -for  it  was  on  a  Sunday  he  received  the  intelligence — and 
told  the  assembly  that  he  had  at  last  got  word  of  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

Impatient  to  be  off,  he  mounted  his  old  grey  mare  the 
next  morning  and  started  alone  through  the  woods  on  a 
journey  of  three  hundred  miles.  That  part  of  the  country 
in  those  days  was  little  more  than  a  wilderness.  The  roads 
by  which  the  settlers  had  come  from  their  eastern  homes 
ran,  in  the  main,  east  and  west,  so  that  David's  way  to  the 
south  led  him  over  hills,  through  valleys  and  across  rivers 
by  paths  almost  unknown  to  the  white  man;  but  nature 


4  LIFE    OF    DAVID  -W.    PATTEN. 

was  in  her  glory,  the  birds  made  melody  the  day  through, 
and,  more  than  all  else,  his  own  heart,  swelling  with  grati- 
tude, kept  time  to  the  music  of  the  spheres,  for  God  had 
again  spoken  from  the  heavens,  the  questionings  of  his 
soul  since  boyhood  had  been  answered,  and  those  paths, 
rough  though  they  were,  led  to  the  realization  of  his 
highest  hopes  this  side  of  eternity.  That  otherwise  lonely 
journey  was  filled  with  peace  and  happiness  unspeakable. 

Arrived  at  the  home  of  his  brother,  at  Fairplay,  he 
found  him,  before  an  infidel,  now  a  devoted  Christian  and 
substantially  as  the  history  of  the  rise  of  the  Church  was 
related  to  him  we  shall  repeat  it  here : 

"In  a  little  town  six  hundred  miles  to  the  east,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  a  young  man  named  Joseph  Smith, 
while  praying  in  the  woods  twelve  years  ago,  received  a 
visit  from  God  the  Father  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ. 
Three  years  later,  an  angel,  calling  himself  Moroni,  ap- 
peared to  this  youth  and  explained  that  he  was  a  resurrect- 
ed being  who  had  formerly  lived  on  this  continent  in  the 
flesh.  Telling  the  boy  Joseph  of  a  sacred  record  hidden  in 
a  hill  near  by,  the  angel  met  him  on  the  hillside  where  the 
precious  charge  lay  concealed  in  a  stone  box,  and  after 
repeated  admonitions  during  the  four  subsequent  years, 
delivered  to  him  some  gold  plates  and  an  instrument  called 
a  Urim  and  Thummim,with  which  to  translate  the  inspired 
hieroglyphics. 

"After  much  delay  and  a  great  deal  of  persecution, 
the  youth  succeeded  in  reproducing  from  the  gold  plates 
the  record  known  as  the  Book  of  Mormon,  now  published 
to  the  world  these  three  years. 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  5 

"Two  years  and  two  months  ago,  having  received  au- 
thority under  the  hands  of  John  the  Baptist,  as  also  from 
Peter,  James  and  John,  the  ancient  apostles,  this  modern 
Prophet,  in  accordance  with  directions  from  the  Lord,  or- 
ganized the  true  Church  of  Christ,  at  Fayette,  Seneca 
County,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

"The  next  fall  after  the  Church  was  set  up,  three 
missionaries  came  west  with  the  intention  of  introducing 
the  work  among  the  Indians,  who  are  descended  from  an 
ancient  people  of  whom  the  Book  of  Mormon  gives  the  his- 
tory; and  on  their  way  came  among  an  earnest  body  of 
worshipers  at  Kirtland,  Ohio.  These  read  the  book,  be- 
lieved the  testimony,  and  received  baptism  to  the  number 
of  several  hundred  souls. 

"Keceiving  a  visit  from  a  number  of  these  converts, 
the  Prophet  himself  has  removed  with  his  family  to  Kirt- 
land, where  he  now  lives  with  a  number  of  his  followers. 

"It  has,  moreover,  been  revealed  to  the  Prophet  that 
the  ancient  site  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  is  on  this  continent, 
and  that  the  building  of  the  New  Jerusalem  is  to  com- 
mence at  that  sacred  spot.  Accordingly,  the  converts  to 
the  new  faith  are  gathering  from  all  directions  into  Inde- 
pendence, Missouri,  where  about  four  hundred  of  them  are 
now  settled." 

Interesting  as  this  narrative  is  to  us,  though  we  have 
heard  it  for  the  hundredth  time,  how  much  more  interest- 
ing must  it  have  been  to  David  W.  Patten,  for  it  was  all 
new  to  him.  Drinking  it  in  with  his  whole  soul,  he  received 
the  truth  with  joy,  and  was  led  into  the  waters  of  baptism 
on  the  15th  day  of  June,  1832. 


6  LIFE    OF    DAVID    W.    PATTEN. 

With  the  most  of  men  there  is  lingering  in  the  very  ; 
heart  of  their  faith  a  grain  of  doubt.  Even  the  missionary, 
no  doubt,  feels  easier  in  placing  himself  in  the  hands  of 
the  Lord,  when  he  knows  that  if  no  place  is  furnished  him 
to  sleep,  he  can  with  the  dollar  in  his  pocket  provide  for 
himself.  And  so  it  is  with  each  of  us  at  times.  It  seems 
as  though  we  cannot  free  ourselves  from  the  millstone  of 
doubt,  and  take  the  Lord  at  His  wrord  when  He  says  He 
will  provide  for  those  who  trust  Him.  This  was  not  the 
case,  however,  with  David  W.  Patten.  He  stood  six  feet 
and  one  inch  in  height,  and  weighed  over  two  hundred 
pounds ;  but  there  seems  to  have  been  no  room  in  his  whole 
generous  composition  for  a  particle  of  doubt.  He  took  the 
Lord  at  His  word  and  devoted  his  whole  life  to  His  service; 
and  whether  face  to  face  with  Cain,  or  baring  his  breast  to 
an  infuriated  mob,  a  doubt  that  the  Lord  was  with  him 
seems  thenceforth  never  to  have  entered  his  mind. 

Two  days  after  his  baptism  David  was  ordained  an  El- 
der under  the  hands  of  Elisha  H.  Groves,  and  with  Joseph 
Wood,  another  recent  convert,  as  a  companion,  was  given 
a  mission  to  the  Territory  of  Michigan. 

II. 

His  procedure  in  administering  to  the  sick— Testimony  as  to 
his  success— Visits  the  Prophet—  Missionary  labors  —Casts 
out  a  "devil"— His  family  baptized— Mrs.  Strong  healed— 
Called  to  Jackson  County. 

Those  who  have  had  a  like  experience,  will  know  with 
what  joy  the  new  convert  returned  to  his  friends  in  the 
wilderness.  All  business  was  laid  aside.  With  his  com- 


LIFE    OF    DAVID    W.    PATTEN.  7 

panion,  David  traveled  through  all  the  country  round 
about  preaching  the  Gospel  and  healing  the  sick. 

Immediately  upon  taking  up  his  labors  in  Michigan, 
in  calling  at  the  house  of  a  stranger  to  ask  for  dinner, 
David  found  in  the  family  a  very  sick  child,  and  while  dis- 
cussing the  restoration  of  the  Gospel  with  the  parents, 
was, asked  to  administer  to  the  little  one.  Finding  the 
mother  had  faith,  he  did  so,  and  it  was  at  once  healed. 

In  administering  the  healing  ordiance  David  had  a 
method  of  procedure  peculiarly  his  own.  On  reaching  the 
bedside,  he  would  first  teach  the  principles  of  the  Gospel 
and  bear  his  testimony  to  their  truth/when  he  usually  made 
a  promise  that  the  invalid  should  be  healed  if  he  would 
agree  to  accept  baptism.  President  Abraham  0.  Smoot,  of 
Utah  Stake,  once  said  he  never  knew  an  instance  in  which 
David's  petition  for  the  sick  was  not  answered,  and  this 
was  also  the  testimony  of  President  Wilford  Woodruff. 

At  the  close  of  one  of  his  meetings  in  Michigan,where 
he  had  no  doubt  spoken  of  the  gift  of  healing/two  children 
sick  of  fever  and  ague  were  brought  to  the  meeting-house 
to  be  healed.  David  had  started  off,  but  was  called  back 
and  upon  learning  from  the  parents  of  their  faith,  acceded 
to  their  request,  and  the  children  were  healed  instantly. 

Until  the  latter  part  of  September  David  and  his  com- 
panion labored  in  Southeastern  Michigan,  baptizing  six- 
teen persons  in  a  branch  of  the  Maumee  Eiver  during  that 
time.  Late  in  the  summer  they  took  up  a  journey  to  Kirt- 
land,  preaching  by  the  way. 

Perhaps  the  first  person  thev  met  at  Kirtland  was 
Elder  Joseph  C.  Kingsbury,  for  they  inquired  of  him  at 


g  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

Newel  K.  Whitney's  store  the  way  to  the  home  of  the 
Prophet  Joseph.  It  was  early  in  October;  the  Prophet  was 
on  a  mission  east,  and  while  waiting  his  return,David  spent 
the  next  two  or  three  weeks  on  the  Prophet's  farm,  help- 
ing to  dig  potatoes  and  harvest  corn. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith, 

David  W.  Patten  was  sent  into  Pennsylvania  on  his  second 

mission,   traveling  sometimes  with  John  Murdock   as   a 

companion,  and  at  other  times  with  Reynolds  Gaboon. 

The  Prophet,  in  sending  out  these  earlv  missionaries, 

'  had  no  particular  field  of  labor  in  mind  for  any  of  them. 
They  were  sent  to  warn  all  men,  but  their  message  was 

,  specially  to  the  honest  in  heart,  and  these  they  had  no  way 
of  finding  except  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Lord.  Just  at 
this  time  a  large  number  of  Elders  had  been  sent  east  from 
Kirtland  in  response  to  the  revelation  of  September  22, 
1832,  from  which  we  quote  as  follows: 

"62.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  whatsoever  ^>lace 
ye  cannot  go  into  ye  shall  send,  that  the  testimony  may  go 
from  you  into  all  the  world  unto  every  creature. 

"63.  And  as  I  said  unto  mine  apostles,  even  so  I  say 
unto  you,  for  you  are  mine  apostles,  even  God's  High 
Priests:  ye  are  they  whom  mv  Father  hath  given  me — ye 
are  my  friends; 

"64.  Therefore,  as  I  said  unto  mine  apostles  I  say  un- 
to you,  again  that  every  soul  who  believeth  on  your  words, 
and  is  baptized  by  water  for  the  remission  of  sins,  shall  re- 
ceive the  Holy  Ghost; 

"65.     And  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe. 


LIFE    OP   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  9 

"66.  In  my  name  they  shall  do  many  wonderful 
works; 

"67.     In  my  name  they  shall  cast  out  devils; 

"68.     In  my  name  they  shall  heal  the  sick; 

"69.  In  my  name  they  shall  open  the  eyes  of  the 
blind,  and  unstop  the  ears  of  the  deaf; 

"70.     And  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  shall  speak; 

"71.  And  if  any  man  shall  administer  poison  unto 
them  it  shall  not  hurt  them; 

"72.  And  the  poison  of  a  serpent  shall  not  have 
power  to  harm  them. 

"73.  But  a  commandment .  I  give  unto  them,  that 
they  shall  not  boast  themselves  of  these  things,  neither 
speak  them  before  the  world,  for  these  things  are  given 
unto  you  for  your  profit  and  for  salvation. 

"74.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you  they  who  believe 
not  on  your  words,  and  are  not  baptized  in  water,  in  my 
name,  for  the  remission  of  their  sins,  that  they  may  re- 
ceive the  Holy  Ghost,  shall  be  damned,  and  shall  not  come 
into  my  Father's  kingdom,  where  my  Father  and  I  am. 

"75.  And  this  revelation  unto  you,  and  command- 
ment, is  in  force  from  this  very  hour  upon  all  the  world, 
and  the  gospel  is  unto  all  who  have  not  received  it. 

"76.  But,  verily,  I  say  unto  all  those  to  whom  the 
kingdom  has  been  given,  from  you  it  must  be  preached 
unto  them,  that  they  shall  repent  of  their  former  evil 
works,  for  they  are  to  be  upbraided  for  their  evil  hearts  of 
unbelief;  and  your  brethren  in  Zion  for  their  rebellion, 
against  you  at  the  time  I  sent  you. 

"77.  And  again  I  say  unto  you,  my  friends,  (for 
from  henceforth  I  shall  call  you  friends,)  it  is  expedient 
that  I  give  unto  you  this  commandment,  that  ye  become 
even  as  my  friends  in  days  when  I  was  with  them  traveling 
to  preach  the  gospel  in  my  power, 

2 


10  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

"78.  For  I  suffered  them  not  to  have  purse  or  scrip, 
neither  two-  coats; 

"79.  Behold  I  send  you  out  to  prove  the  world,  and 
the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire. 

"80.  And  any  man  that  shall  go  and  preach  this  gos- 
pel of  the  kingdom,  and  fail  not  to  continue  faithful  in  all 
things  shall  not  be  weary  in  mind,  neither  darkened, 
neither  in  body,  limb,  nor  joint:  and  an  hair  of  his  head 
shall  not  fall  to  the  ground  unnoticed.  And  they  shall  no-t 
go  hungry,  neither  athirst. 

"81.  Therefore,  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,  for 
what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink,  OT  wherewithal 
ye  shall  be  clothed; 

"82.  For  consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they 
grow,  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin;  and  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world,  in  all  their  glory,  are  not  arrayed  like  one  of 
these ; 

"83.  For  your  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  knoweth 
that  you  have  need  of  all  these  things. 

"84.  Therefore,  let  the  morrow  take  thought  for  the 
things  of  itself. 

"85.  Neither  take  ye  thought  beforehand  what  ye 
shall  sa}r,  but  treasure  up  in  your  minds  continually  the 
words  of  life,  and  it  shall  be  given  you  in  the  very  hour 
that  portion  that  shall  be  meted  unto  every  man. 

"86.  Therefore  let  no  man  among  you,  (for  this  com- 
mandment is  unto  all  the  faithful  who  are  called  of  God 
in  the  church  unto  the  ministry,)  from  this  hour  take  purse 
-or  scrip,  that  goeth  forth  to  proclaim  this  gospel  o-f  the 
kingdom. 

"87.  Behold,  I  send  you  out  to  reprove  the  world  of 
all  their  unrighteous  deeds,  and  to  teach  them  of  a  judg- 
ment which  is  to  come. 

"88.  And  whoso  receiveth  you,  there  I  will  be  also, 
for  I  will  go  before  your  face :  I  will  be  on  your  right  hand 


LIFE   OF   DAVID  W.    PATTEN.  11 

and  on  your  left,  and  my  Spirit  shall  be  in  your  hearts, 
and  mine  angels  round  about  you,  to  bear  you  up. 

"89.  Whoso  receiveth  you  receiveth  me,and  the  same 
will  feed  you,  and  cloth  you,  and  give  you  money. 

"90.  And  he  who  feeds  you,  or  clothes  you  or  gives 
you  money,  shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  reward : 

"91.  And  he  that  doeth  not  these  things  is  not  my 
disciple;  by  this  you  may  know  my  disciples. 

"92.  He  that  receiveth  you  not,  go  away  from  him 
alone  by  yourselves,  and  cleanse  your  feet  even  with  water, 
pure  water,  whether  in  heat  or  in  cold,  and  bear  testimony 
of  it  unto  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  and  return  not 
again  unto  that  man. 

"93.  And  in  whatsoever  village  or  city  ye  enter,  do 
likewise. 

"94.  Nevertheless,  search  diligently  and  spare  not; 
and  wo  unto  that  house,  or  that  village  or  citj  that  re- 
jecteth  you,  or  your  words,  or  your  testimony  concerning 
me. 

"95.  Wo,  I  say  again,  unto  that  house,  or  that  village 
or  city  that  rejecteth  you,  or  your  words,  or  your  testimony 
of  me. 

"96.  For  I  the  Almighty,  have  laid  my  hands  upon 
the  nations,  to  scourge  them  for  their  wickedness: 

"97.  And  plagues  shall  go  forth,  and  they  shall  not 
be  taken  from  the  earth  until  I  have  completed  my  work 
which  shall  be  cut  short  in  righteousness, 

"98.  Until  all  shall  know  me,  who  remain,  even  from 
the  least  unto  the  greatest,  and  shall  be  filled  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  see  eye  to  eye,  and  shall 
lift  up  their  voice,  and  with  the  voice  together  sing  this 
new  song,  saying — 

"99.     The  Lord  hath  brought  again  Zion 
The  Lord  hath  redeemed  his  people,  Israel, 
According  to  the  election  of  grace, 


12  LIFE    OF    DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

Which  was  brought  to  pass  by  the  faith 
And  covenant  of  their  fathers. 

"100.     The  Lord  hath  redeemed  his  people, 
And'  Satan  is  bound  and  time  is  no  longer: 
The  Lord  hath  gathered  all  things  in  one: 
The  Lord  hath  brought  down  Zion  from  above. 
The  Lord  hath  brought  up  Zion  from  beneath. 

"101.     The  earth  hath  travailed  and  brought  forth 

her  strength: 

And  truth  is  established  in  her  bowels: 
And  the  heavens  have  smiled  upon  her : 
And  she  is  clothed  with  the  glory  of  her  God : 
For  he  stands  in  the  midst  of  his  people: 

"102.     Glory,  and  honor,  and  power,  and  might, 
Be  ascribed  to  our  God;  for  he  is  full  of  mercy, 
Justice,  grace  arid  truth,  and  peace, 
Forever  and  ever,  Amen. 

"103.  And  again,  verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  it  is 
expedient  that  every  man  who  go>es  forth  to  proclaim  mine 
everlasting  gospel,  that  inasmuch  as  they  have  f  amilies,and 
receive  monies  by  gift  that  they  should  send  it  unto  them 
or  make  use  of  it  for  their  benefit,  as  the  Lord  shall  direct 
them,  for  thus  it  seemeth  me  good. 

"104.  And  let  all  those  who  have  not  families,  who 
receive  monies,  send  it  up  u-nto  the  Bishop  in  Zion,  or  unto 
the  Bishop  in  Ohio,  that  it  may  be  consecrated  for  the 
bringing  forth  of  the  revelations  and  the  printing  thereof, 
and  for  establishing  Zion. 

"105.  And  if  any  man  shall  give  unto  any  of  you  a 
coat,  or  a  suit,  take  the  old  and  cast  it  unto  the  poor,  and 
go  your  way  rejoicing. 

"106.  And  if  any  man  among  you  be  strong  in  the 
Spirit,  let  him  take  with  him  he  that  is  weak,  that  he  may 
be  edified  in  all  meekness,  that  he  may  become  strong  also. 

"107.  Therefore,  take  with  you  those  who  are  or- 
dained unto  the  lesser  priesthood/ and  send  them  before 


LIFE    OF    DAVID    W.    PATTEN.  13 

you  to  make  appointments,  and  to  prepare  the  way,  and  to 
fill  appointments  that  you  yourselves  are  not  able  to  fill. 

"108.  Behold,  this  is  the  way  that  mine  apostles,  in 
ancient  days,  built  up  my  church  unto  me. 

"109.  Therefore,  let  every  man  stand  in  his  own  of- 
fice, and  labor  in  his  own  calling;  and  let  not  the  head  say 
unto  the  feet,  it  hath  no  need  of  the  feet,  for  without  the 
feet  how  shall  the  body  be  able  to  stand  ? 

"110.  Also  the  body  hath  need  of  every  member, 
that  all  may  be  edified  together,  that  the  system  may  be 
kept  perfect.  • 

"111.  And  behold  the  High  Priests  should  travel, 
and  also  the  elders,,  and  also  the  lesser  priests;  but  the  dea- 
cons and  teachers  should  be  appointed  to  watch  over  the 
church,  to  be  standing  ministers  unto  the  church. 

"112.  And  the  bishop,  Newel  K.  Whitney,  also-, 
should  travel  round  about  and  among  all  the  churches, 
searching  after  the  poor  to  administer  to  their  wants  by 
humbling  the  rich  and  the  proud; 

"113.  He  should  also  employ  an  agent  to  take 
charge  and  to  do  his  secular  business  as  he  shall  direct. 

"114.  Nevertheless,  let  the  bishop  go  unto  the  city 
of  New  York,  also  the  city  of  Albany,  and  also  to  the 
city  of  Boston,  and  warn  the  people  of  those  cities  with 
the  sound  of  the  gospel,  with  a  loud  voice,  of  the  desolation 
and  utter  abolishment  which  await  them  if  they  do  reject 
these  things; 

"115.  For  if  they  do  reject  these  things  the  hour  of 
their  judgment  is  nigh,  and  their  house  shall  be  left  unto 
them  desolate. 

"116.  Let  him  trust  in  me  and  he  shall  not  be  con- 
founded; and  an  hair  of  his  head  shall  not  fall  to  the 
ground  unnoticed. 

"117.  And  verily  I  say  unto  you,  the  rest  of  my  ser- 
vants, go  ye  forth  as  your  circumstances  shall  permit,  in 


14  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

your  several  callings  unto  the  great  and  notable  cities  and 
villages,  reproving  the  world  in  righteousness  of  all  their 
unrighteous  and  ungodly  deeds,  setting  forth  clearly  and 
understandingly  the  desolation  of  abomination  in  the  last 
days. 

"118.  For  with  you  saith  the  Lord  Almighty,  I  will 
rend  their  kingdoms:  I  will  not  only  shake  the  earth,  but 
the  starry  heavens  shall  tremble; 

"119.  For  I,  the  Lord,  have  put  forth  my  hand  to 
exert  the  powers  of  heaven;  ye  cannot  see  it  now,  yet  a 
little  while  and  ye  shall  see  it,  and  know  that  I  am,  and 
that  I  will  come  and  reign  with  my  people. 

"120.  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the 
end.  Amen." — Doc.  and  Cov.  Sec.  84. 

On  the  9th  of  November,  in  eastern  Ohio<,  David  fell 
in  with  John  F.  Boynton  and  Zebedee  Coltrin,  who  like 
himself  were  uncertain  a,s  to  their  course,  and  the  three 
thereupon  held  a  council  of  inquiry.  Agreeing  that  Zeb- 
edee Coltrin  should  be  mouth,  the  three  went  into  a,  wood 
near  by  and  knelt  in  prayer.  They  were  directed  to  go 
eastward,  preaching  as  they  went.  This  they  did,  and 
David  adds,  "the  Spirit  of  God  leading  us."  Several  per- 
sons were  baptized  on  their  way. 

At  Springfield,  Pa.,  David  met  Hyrum  Smith  and  his 
brother  William,  and  joined  them  in  holding  services.  Af- 
ter meeting,  six  persons  were  baptized.  David's  gift  of 
healing  the  sick  was  in  constant  demand.  People  came  to 
him  from  all  the  country  round,  and  it  was  a  daily  occur- 
rence for  the  sick  to  be  healed  under  his  administrations. 
One  woman,  who  had  been  an  invalid  for  twenty  years, 
was  healed  instantly. 


LIFE    OF   DAVID    W.    PATTEN.  15 

After  four  months'  labor  in  and  about  Pennsylvania, 
David  returned  to  Kirtland,  arriving  there  February  25, 
1833. 

David  was  a  man  of  great  physical  strength.  While 
on  his  third  mission,  which  was  undertaken  after  a  month's 
rest  at  Kirtland,  he  and  Reynolds  Cahoon  had  an  appoint- 
ment to  preach  at  the  house  of  Father  Bosley,  at  Avon, 
Ohio. 

Several  meetihgs  had  been  held  here  before  by  other 
Elders,  and  among  the  assembled  neighbors,  was  a  man 
known  as  the  "County  Bully/'  who  was  the  source  of  a 
great  deal  of  annoyance  to  the  speakers. 

Sitting  by  the  door  in  the  hallway,  this  man  would, 
every  little  while,  contradict  the  speaker,  or  call  out  some 
irreverent  suggestion,  or  ask  for  a  sign.  He  boisterously  re- 
fused to  be  quiet,  and  on  the  evening  of  David's  meeting  at 
the  house,  was  particularly  noisy,  asking  David,  among 
other  things,  to  cast  the  devil  out.  Whether  it  was  from  a 
sense  of  humor  at  the  fellow's  unlucky  remark,  or  because 
he  was  tired  of  the  disturbance,  we  cannot  say,  but  David 
finally  determined  'to  silence  his  persecutor. 

Walking  to  the  hallway,  he  quietly  picked  the  man  up 
bodily,  carried  him  to  the  outside  door,  and  with  a  swing 
sent  the  fellow  about  ten  feet  onto  the  wood  pile.  There 
was  no  more  disturbance  that  night,  and  the  saying  was 
the  current  mirth  provoker  of  the  neighborhood  for  weeks 
afterward,  that  "Patten  cast  out  one  devil,  soul  and  body." 

While  on  this  mission,  David  assisted  in  converting 
a  part  of  his  own  family.  On  the  20th  of  May,  1833,  at 
Theresa,  Indian  River  Falls  his  brothers  Archibald  and 


16          .  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

Ira,  his  sister  Polly,  his  mother,  and  two  of  his  brothers- 
in-law,  Warren  Parrish  and  Mr.  Cheeseman,  were  led  into 
the  waters  of  baptism  by  Elder  Brigham  Young,  who  was 
another  of  the  large  number  of  missionaries  sent  out  from 
Kirtland  in  March,  1833.  David's  father  had  died  in 
August  the  previous  year. 

For  nearly  a  year  now  David  had  been  almost  contin- 
uously in  the  field  preaching  the  Gospel  and  healing  the 
sick,  his  power  with  the  Lord  in  no  wise  diminishing.  No 
credit  was  ever  taken  to  himself,  however,  in  the  miracles 
performed,  for  he  writes  of  this  time: 

"The  Lord  did  work  with  me  wonderfully,  in  signs 
and  wonders  following  them  that  believed  in  the  ful- 
ness of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Chist,  insomuch  that  the  deaf 
were  made  to  hear,  the  blind  to  see,  and  the  lame  were 
made  whole.  Fevers;,  palsies,  crooked  and  withered  limbs, 
and  in  fact  all  manner  of  diseases  common  to  the  country, 
were  healed  by  the  power  of  God,  that  was  manifested 
through  His  servants." 

Among  those  visited  by  him  was  a  blind  woman,  the 
wife  of  Ezra  Strong.  It  was  nearly  noon  when  David 
reached  the  house.  After  the  usual  testimony  and  ques- 
tions respecting  her  faith  in  the  Gospel,  David  rubbed  and 
anointed  her  eyes,  when  immediately  she  was  restored  to 
sight;  and  so  thoroughly  was  she  healed  that  she  prepared 
dinner  for  the  household. 

During  this  summer,  under  great  hardship  and  suffer- 
ing, eighty  members  were  added  to  the  Church  under 
David's  administration.  Eighteen  of  these  were  at  Orleans, 
Jefferson  County,  New  York.  At  Henderson  where  eight 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  17 

converts  were  baptized,  great  power  was  manifested  at 
the  confirmation,  when  the  members  spoke  in  tongues  and 
prophesied. 

With  his  brother,  Ira,  David  returned  in  the  early 
autumn  of  1833  to  Kirtland,  where  he  worked  on  the  tem- 
ple for  a  month.  Before  winter  set  in  that  year,  David  had 
removed  his  wife  and  their  effects  from  Michigan  to  Flor- 
ence, Ohio,  where  he  remained  till  the  latter  part  of  No- 
vember. Having  been  sickly,  five  weeks  of  the  seven  he 
spent  at  home  that  fall,  David  commended  himself  into 
the  hands  of  the  Lord  and  went  into  the  neighboring  coun- 
try to  preach.  But  there  was  a  field  more  in  need  of  his 
labors  than  this,  for  he  had  not  been  from  home  more  than 
two  weeks  when  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Depart  from  your  field  of  labor,  and  go  unto  Kirt- 
laiid,  for  behold,  I  will  send  thee  up  to  the  land  of  Zion, 
for  behold,  thou  shalt  serve  thy  brethren  there." 

• 
III. 

Condition  of  Saints  in  Missouri— Revelation  to  them— With  Wil- 
liam D.  Pratt,  David  goes  to  Missouri— Ministering  to  the 
suffering— Freedom  from  animosity — Mission  to  Tennessee 
— Healing  of  Mrs.  Lane. 

Greatly  were  his  brethren  in  Zion  in  need  of  whatever 
services  David  could  render  them.  About  the  time  of  his 
arrival  at  Kirtland  after  receiving  the  word  of  the  Lord,  a 
letter  came  to  the  Prophet  from  Elder  W.  W.  Phelps,dated 
Clay  County,  Missouri,  in  which  among  other  things  he 
says: 


18  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

"The  situation  of  the  Saints,  as  scattered,  is  dubious 
and  affords  a  gloomy  prospect.  No  regular  order  can  be 
enforced,  nor  any  usual  discipline  kept  up;  among  the 
world,  yea,  among  the  most  wicked  part  of  it,  some  commit 
one  sin  and  some  another  (I  speak  of  the  rebellious,  for 
there  are  Saints  that  are  as  immovable  as  the  everlasting- 
hills,)  and  what  can  be  done?  We  are  in  Clay,  Ray,  Lafa- 
yette, Jackson,  Van  Buren,  etc.,  and  cannot  hear  from  each 
other  oftener  than  we  do  from  you. 

"I  know  it  was  right  that  we  should  be  driven  out  of 
the  land  of  Zion,  that  the  rebellious  might  be  sent  away. 
But,  brethren,  if  the  Lord  will,  I  should  like  to  know  what 
the  honest  in  heart  shall  do." 

On  December  IGth,  1833,  the  Lord  gave,  in  answer  to 
this  inquiry,  the  following  revelation : 

"1.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  concerning  your  brethren 
who  have  been  afflicted,  and  persecuted,  and  cast  out  from 
the  land  of  their  inheritance, 

"2.  I,  the  Lord,  have  suffered  the  affliction  to  come 
upon  them,  wherewith  they  have  been  afflicted,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  transgressions ; 

"3.  Yet  I  will  own  them,  and  they  shall  be  mine  in 
that  day  when  I  shall  come  to  make  up  my  jewels. 

"4.  Therefore,  they  must  needs  be  chastened  and 
tried,  even  as  Abraham,  who  was  commanded  to  offer  up 
his  only  son; 

"5.  For  all  those  who  will  not  endure  chastening,but 
deny  me,  cannot  be  sanctified. 

"6.  Behold,  I  say  unto  you,  there  were  jarrings,  and 
contentions,  and  envyings,  and  strifes,  and  lustful  and  cov- 
etons  desires  among  them;  therefore  by  these  things  they 
polluted  their  inheritances. 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  19 

"7.  They  were  slow  to  hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  their  God,  therefore  the  Lord  their  God  is  slow  to 
hearken  unto  their  prayers,  to  answer  them  in  the  day  of 
their  trouble. 

"8.  In  the  day  of  their  peace  they  esteemed  lightly 
my  counsel;  but,  in  the  day  of  their  trouble,  of  necessity 
they  feel  after  me. 

"9.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  notwithstanding  their 
sins,  my  bowels  are  filled  with  compassion  towards  them: 
I  will  not  utterly  cast  them  off;  and  in  the  day  of  wrath 
I  will  remember  mercy. 

"10.  I  have  sworn,  and  the  decree  hath  gone  forth 
by  a  former  commandment  which  I  have  given  unto  you, 
that  I  would  let  fall  the  sword  of  mine  indignation  in  the 
behalf  of  my  people;  and  even  as  I  have  said,  it  shall  come 
to  pass. 

"11.  Mine  indignation  is  soon  to  be  poured  out  with- 
out measure  upon  all  nations,  and  this  will  I  do  when  the 
cup  of  their  iniquity  is  full. 

"12.     And  in  that  day  all  who  are  found  upon  the 
watch  tower,  or  in  other  words,  all  mine  Israel  shall  be  - 
saved. 

"13.  And  they  that  have  been  scattered  shall  be 
gathered; 

"14.  And  all  they  who  have  mourned  shall  be  com- 
forted ; 

"15.  And  all  they  who  have  given  their  lives  for  my 
name  shall  be  crowned. 

"16.  Therefore,  let  your  hearts  be  comforted  con- 
cerning Zion;  for  all  flesh  is  in  mine  hands:  be  still  and 
know  that  I  am  God. 

"17.  Zion  shall  not  be  moved  out  of  her  place,  not- 
withstanding her  children  are  scattered; 

"18.  They  that  remain,  and  are  pure  in  heart,  shall 
return,  and  come  to  their  inheritance,  they  and  their 


2Q  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

children,  with  songs  of  everlasting  joy  to  build  up  the 
waste  places  of  Zion; 

"19.  And  all  these  things  that  the  prophets  might 
be  fulfilled. 

"20.  And,,  behold,  there  is  none  other  place  appoint- 
ed than  that  which  I  have  appointed;  neither  shall  there 
be  any  other  place  appointed  than  that  which  I  have  ap- 
pointed, for  the  work  of  the  gathering  of  my  saints, 

"21.  Until  the  day  cometh  when  there  is  found  no 
more  room  for  them;  and  then  I  have  other  places  which 
I  will  appoint  unto  them,  and  they  shall  be  called  Stakes, 
for  the  curtains,  -or  the  strength  of  Zion. 

"22.  Behold,  it  is  my  will,  that  all  they  who  call  on 
my  name,  and  worship  me  according  to  mine  everlasting 
gospel,  should  gather  together,  and  stand  in  holy  places, 

"23.  And  prepare  for  the  revelation,  which  is  to 
come,  when  the  veil  of  the  covering  of  my  temple,  in  my 
tabernacle,  which  hideth  the  earth,  shall  be  taken  off,  and 
all  flesh  shall  see  me  together. 

"24.  '  And  every  corruptible  thing,  both  of  man,  or  of 
the  beasts  of  the  field,  or  of  the  fowls  of  the  heavens,  or  of 
the  fish  of  the  sea,  that  dwell  upon  all  the  face  of  the 
earth,  shall  be  consumed; 

"25.  And  also  that  of  element  shall  melt  with  fer- 
vent heat ;  and  all  things  shall  become  new,  that  my  knowl- 
edge and  glory  may  dwell  upon  all  the  earth. 

"26.  And  in  that  day  the  enmity  of  man,  and  the  en- 
mity of  beasts,  yea,  the  enmity  of  all  flesh,  shall  cease  from 
before  my  face, 

"27.  And  in  that  day  whatsoever  any  man  shall  ask, 
it  shall  be  given  unto  him. 

"28.  And  in  that  day  Satan  shall  not  have  power  to 
tempt  any  man. 

"29.  And  there  shall  be  no  sorrow  because  there  is 
no  death, 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  21 

"30.  In  that  day  an  infant  shall  not  die  until  he  is 
old,  and  his  life  shall  be  as  the  age  of  a  tree. 

"31.  And  when  he  dies  he  shall  not  sleep,  (that  is  to 
say  in  the  earth,)  but  shall  be  changed  in  the  twinkling  of 
an  eye,  and  shall  be  caught  up,  and  his  rest  shall  be  glo- 
rious. 

"32.  Yea,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  in  that  day  when 
the  Lord  shall  come,  he  shall  reveal  all  things — 

"33.  Things  which  have  passed,  and  hidden  things 
which  no  man  knew — things  of  the  earth,  by  which  it  was 
made,  and  the  purposes  and  the  end  thereof — 

"34.  Things  most  precious — things  that  are  above, 
and  things  that  are  beneath — things  that  are  in  the  earth, 
and  upon  the  earth,  and  in  heaven. 

"35.  And  all  they  who  suffer'  persecution  for  my 
name,  and  endure  in  faith,  though  they  are  called  to  lay 
down  their  lives  for  my  sake,  yet  shall  they  partake  of  all 
this  glory. 

"36.  Wherefore,  fear  not  even  unto  death  ;f  or  in  this 
world  your  joy  is  not  full,  but  in  me  your  joy  is  full. 

"37.  Therefore,  care  not  for  the  body,  neither  the 
life  of  the  body;  but  care  for  the  soul,  and  for  the  life  of 
the  soul; 

"38.  And  seek  the  face  of  the  Lord  always,  that  in 
patience  ye  may  possess  your  souls,  and  ye  shall  have  eter- 
nal life.  0 

"39.  When  men  are  called  unto  mine  everlasting 
gospel,  and  covenant  with  an  everlasting  covenant,  they  are 
accounted  as  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  the  savor  of  men; 

"40.  They  are  called  to  be  the  savor  of  men.  There- 
fore, if  that  salt  of  the  earth  lose  its  savor,  behold,  it  is 
thenceforth  good  for  nothing,  only  to  be  cast  out,  and 
trodden  under  the  feet  of  men. 

"41.     Behold,  here  is  wisdom  concerning  the  children 


22  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.   PATTEN. 

of  Zion,  even  many,  but  not  all;  they  were  found  trans- 
gressors, therefore  they  must  needs  be  chastened. 

"42.  He  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  and 
he  that  abaseth  himself  shall  be  exalted. 

"43,  And  now,  I  will  show  unto  you  a  parable,  that 
you  may  know  my  will  concerning  the  redemption  of  Zion. 

"44.  A  certain  nobleman  had  a  spot  of  land,  very 
choice;  and  he  said  unto  his  servants,  Go  ye  unto  my  vine- 
yard, even  upon  this  very  choice  piece  of  land,  and  plant 
twelve  olive  trees, 

"45.  And  set  watchmen  round  about  them,  and  build 
a  tower,  that  one  may  overlook  the  land  round  about,  to 
be  a  watchman  upon  the  tower,  that  mine  olive  trees  may 
not  be  broken  down,  when  the  enemy  shall  come  to  spoil, 
and  take  unto  themselves  the  fruit  of  my  vineyard. 

"46.  Now,  the  servants  of  the  nobleman  went  and 
did  as  their  lord  commanded  them;  and  planted  the  olive 
trees,  and  built  a  hedge  round  about,  and  set  watchmen, 
and  began  to  build  a  tower. 

"47.  And  while  they  were  yet  laying  the  foundation 
thereof,  they  began  to  say  among  themselves,  And  what 
need  hath  my  lord  of  this  tower  ? 

"48.  And  consulted  for  a  long  time,  saying  among 
themselves,  What  need  hath  my  lord  of  this  tower,  seeing 
this  is  a  time  of  peace? 

"49.  Might  not  this  money  be  given  to  the  exchang- 
ers ?  for  there  is  no  need  of  these*  things ! 

"50.  And  while  they  were  at  variance  one  with  an- 
other they  became  very  slothful,  and  they  harkened  not 
unto  the  commandments  of  their  lord, 

"51.  And  the  enemy  came  by  night,  and  broke  down 
the  hedge,  and  the  servants  of  the  nobleman  arose  and 
were  affrighted,  and  fled;  and  the  enemy  destroyed  their 
works,  and  broke  down  the  olive  trees. 

"52.     Now  behold,  the  nobleman,  the  lord  of  the  vine- 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  23 

yard,  called  upon  his  servants,  and  said  unto  them,  Why ! 
what  is  the  cause  of  this  great  evil  ? 

"53.  Ought  ye  not  to  have  done  even  as  I  commanded 
you  ?  and  after  ye  had  planted  the  vineyard,  and  built  the 
hedge  round  about,  and  set  watchmen  upon  the  walls 
thereof,  built  the  tower  also,  and  set  a  watchman  upon  the 
tower,  and  watched  for  my  vineyad,  and  not  have  fallen 
asleep,  lest  the  enemy  should  come  upon  you? 

"54.  And  behold,  the  watchman  upon  the  tower 
would  have  seen  the  enemy  while  he  was  yet  afar  off,  and 
then  ye  could  have  made  ready  and  kept  the  enemy  from 
breaking  down  the  hedge  thereof,  and  saved  my  vineyard 
from  the  hands  of  the  destroyer. 

"55.  And  the  lord  of  the  vineyard  said  unto  one  of 
his  servants,  Go  and  gather  together  the  residue  of  my  ser- 
vants, and  take  all  the  strength  of  mine  house,  which  are 
my  warriors,  my  young  men,  and  they  that  are  of  middle 
age  also  among  all  my  servants,  who  are  the  strength  of 
mine  house,  save  those  only  whom  I  have  appointed  to 
tarry; 

"56.  And  go  ye  straightway  unto  the  land  of  my 
vineyard,  and  redeem  my  vineyard,  for  it  is  mine,  I  have 
bought  it  with  money. 

"57.  Therefore,  get  ye  straightway  unto  my  land; 
break  down  the  walls  of  mine  enemies;  throw  down  their 
tower,  and  scatter  their  watchmen : 

"58.  And  inasmuch  as  they  gather  together  against 
you,  avenge  me  of  mine  enemies,  that  by  and  by  I  may 
come  with  the  residue  of  mine  house,  and  possess  the  land. 

"59.  And  the  servant  said  unto  his  lord,  When  shall 
these  things  be  ? 

"60.  And  he  said  unto  his  servant,  When  I  will,  go 
ye  straightway,  and  do  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you; 

"61.     And  this  shall  be  my  seal  and     blessing  upon 


24  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

you — a  faithful  and  wise  steward  in  the  midst  of  mine 
house,  a  ruler  in  my  kingdom. 

"62.  And  his  servant  went  straightway,  and  did  all 
things  whatsoever  his  lord  commanded  him,  and  after 
many*  days  all  things  were  fulfilled. 

"63.  Again,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  will  show  unto 
you  wisdom  in  me  concerning  all  the  churches,  inasmuch 
as  they  are  willing  to  be  guided  in  a  right  and  proper  way 
for  their  salvation, 

"64.  That  the  work  of  the  gathering  together  of  my 
saints  may  continue,  that  I  may  build  them  up  unto  my 
name  upon  holy  places;  for  the  time  of  harvest  is  come, 
and  my  word  must  needs  be  fulfilled. 

"65.  Therefore,  I  must  gather  together  my  people, 
according  to  the  parable  of  the  wheat  and  the  tares,  that 
the  wheat  may  be  secured  in  the  garners  to  possess  eternal 
life,  and  be  crowned  with  celestial  glory  when  I  shall  come 
in  the  kingdom  of  my  Father,  to  reward  every  man  accord- 
ing as  his  work  shall  be, 

"66.  While  the  tares  shall  be  bound  in  bundles,  and 
their  bands  made  strong,  that  they  may  be  burned  with  un- 
quenchable fire. 

"67.  Therefore,  a  commandment  I  give  unto  all  the 
churches,  that  they  shall  continue  to  gather  together  unto 
the  places  which  I  have  appointed; 

"68.  Nevertheless,  as  I  have  said  unto  you  in  a  for- 
mer commandment,  let  not  your  gatheing  be  in  haste, 
nor  by  flight;  but  let  all  things  be  prepared  before  you; 

"69.  And  in  order  that  all  things  be  prepared  before 
you,  observe  the  commandments  which  I  have  given  con- 
cerning these  things, 

"70.  Which  saith,  or  teacheth,  to  puchase  all  the 
lands  by  money,  which  can  be  purchased  for  money,  in 
the  region  round  about  the  land  which  I  have  appointed 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  25 

to  be  the  land  of  Zion,  for  the  beginning  of  the  gathering 
of  my  saints; 

"71.  All  the  land  which  can  be  purchased  in  Jackson 
County,  and  the  counties  round  about,  and  leave  the  resi- 
due in  mine  hand. 

"72.  Now,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  let  all  the  churches 
gather  together  all  their  monies;  let  these  things  be  done 
in  their  time,  be  not  in  haste,  and  observe  to  have  all 
things  prepared  before  you. 

"73.  And  let  honorable  men  be  appointed,  even  wise 
men,  and  send  them  to  purchase  these  lands; 

"74.  And  every  church  in  the  eastern  countries  when 
they  are  built  up,  if  they  will  hearken  unto  this  counsel, 
they  may  buy  lands  and  gather  together  upon  them,  and 
in  this  way  they  may  establish  Zion. 

"75.  There  is  even  now  already  in  store  a  sufficient, 
yea,  even  abundance,  to  redeem  Zion,  and  establish  her 
waste  places,  no  more  to  be  thrown  down,  where  the 
churches  who  call  themselves  after  my  name,  willing  to 
hearken  to  my  voice. 

"76.  And  again  I  say  unto  you,  those  who  have  been 
scattered  by  their  enemies,  it  is  my  will  that  they  should 
continue  to  importune  for  redress,  and  redemption,  by  the 
hands  of  those  who  are  placed  as  rulers,  and  are  in  author- 
ity over  you. 

"77.  According  to  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the 
people  which  I  have  suffered  to  be  esablished,  and  should 
be  maintained  for  the  rights  and  protection  of  all  flesh,  ac- 
cording to  just  and  holy  principles. 

"78.  That  every  man  may  act  in  doctrine  and  prin- 
ciple pertaining  to  futurity,  according  to  this  moral  agency 
which  I  have  given  unto  them,  that  every  man  may  be  ac- 
countable for  his  own  sins  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

"79.  Therefore,  it  is  not  right  that  any  man  should 
be  in  bondage  one  to  another. 

"80.     And  for  this  purpose  I  have  established  the 


26  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

constitution  of  this  land,  by  the  hands  of  wise  men  whom  I 
raised  up  unto  this  very  purpose,  and  redeemed  the  land 
by  the  shedding  of  blood. 

"81.  Now,  unto  what  shall  I  liken  the  children  of 
Zion?  I  will  liken  them  unto  the  parable  of  the  woman 
and  the  unjust  judge  (for  men  ought  always  to  pray  and 
not  to  faint)  which  saith, 

"82.  There  was  in  a  city  a  judge  which  feared  not 
God,  neither  regarded  man. 

"83.  And  there  was  a  widow  in  that  city,  and  she 
came  unto  him,  saying,  Avenge  me  of  mine  adversary. 

"84.  And  he  would  not  for  awhile,  but  afterward  he 
said  within  himself,  Though  I  fear  not  God,  nor  regard 
man,  yet  because  this  widow  troubleth  me  I  will  avenge 
her,  lest,  by  her  continual  coming,  she  weary  me. 

"85.     Thus  will  I  liken  the  children  of  Zion. 

"86.     Let  them  importune  at  the  feet  of  the  Judge; 

"87.  And  if  he  heed  them  not,  let  them  importune 
at  the  feet  of  the  Governor; 

"88.  And  if  the  Governor  heed  them  not,  let  them 
importune  at  the  feet  of  the  President; 

"89.  And  if  the  President  heed  them  not,  then  will 
the  Lord  arise  and  come  forth  out  of  his  hiding  place,  and 
in  his  fury  vex  the  nation, 

"90.  And  in  his  hot  displeasure,  and  in  his  fierce 
anger,  in  his  time,  will  cut  off  those  wicked,  unfaithful, 
and  unjust  stewards,and  appoint  them  their  portion  among 
hypocrites,  and  unbelievers; 

"91.  Even  in  outer  darkness,  where  there  is  weeping, 
and  wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 

"92.  Pray  ye,  therefore,  that  their  ears  may  be  open- 
ed unto  your  cries,  that  I  may  be  merciful  unto  them,  that 
these  things  may  not  come  upon  them. 

"93.  What  I  have  said  unto  you,  must  needs  be,  that 
all  men  may  be  left  without  excuse; 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  27 

"94.  That  wise  men  and  rulers  may  hear  and  know 
that  which  they  have  never  considered; 

"95.  That  I  may  proceed  to  bring  to  pass  my  act,  my 
strang*3  act,  «n<l  perform  my  work,  my  strange  work,  that 
men  may  discern  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
saith  your  God. 

"96.  And  again,  I  say  unto  you,  it  is  contrary  to  my 
commandment,  and  my  will,  that  my  servant  Sidney  Gil- 
bert should  sell  my  storehouse,  which  I  have  appointed  un- 
to my  people,  into  the  hands  of  mine  enemies. 

"97.  Let  not  that  which  I  have  appointed  be  polluted 
by  mine  enemies,  by  the  consent  of  those  who  call  them- 
selves after  my  name; 

"98.  For  this  is  a  very  sore  and  grievous  sin  against 
me,  and  against  my  people,  in  consequence  of  those  things 
which  I  have  decreed  and  are  soon  to  befall  the  nations. 

"99.  Therefore,  it  is  my  will  that  my  people  should 
claim,  and  hold  claim  upon  that  which  I  have  appointed 
unto  them,  though  they  should  not  be  permitted  to  dwell 
thereon; 

"100.  Nevertheless,  I  do  not  say  they  shall  not  dwell 
thereon;  for  inasmuch  as  they  bring  forth  fruit  and  works 
meet  for  my  kingdom,  they  shall  dwell  thereon ; 

"101.  They  shall  build,  and  another  shall  not  inherit 
it ;  they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  they  shall  eat  the  fruit 
thereof.  Even  so.  Amen." — Doc.  and  Cov.  Sec.  101. 


With  a  copy  of  this  revelation  and  other  papers  bear- 
ing comfort  to  the  distressed  people,  David  accompanied 
William  D.  Pratt  to  Missouri,  making  the  greater  part  of 
the  journey  on  foot. 

Under  date  of  December  19th  occurs  the  following 
entry  in  the  diary  of  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith : 

"William  Pratt  and  David  Patten  took  their  journey 


28  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

to  the  land  of  Zion,  for  the  purpose  of  bearing  dispatches 
to  the  brethren  in  that  place  from  Kirtland.  0,  may  God 
grant  it  a  blessing  for  Zion,  as  a  kind  angel  from  hea,ven. 
Amen." 

To  face  that  journey  of  six  hundred  miles  in  the  dead 
of  winter  on  foot  and  in  poverty,  took  no  common  courage. 
Men  who  weighed  their  own  comfort  against  the  welfare 
of  their  fellowmen,  would  have  seriously  considered  the  al- 
ternative. But  not  so  with  these. 

Since  the  summer  of  1831,  when  the  Saints  first  set- 
tled in  Jackson  County,  Missouri,  converts  had  been  gath- 
ering from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  the  center  Stake  of 
Zion.  Much  progress  had  been  made  by  them  in  providing 
themselves  with  the  comforts  of  life,  when,  in  the  fall  of 
1833,  an  armed  mob  recruited  from  the  surrounding  re- 
gion arose  against  the  Saints  and  drove  them,  about  twelve 
hundred  souls  in  all,  from  their  homes,  and  now  they  were 
as  we  have  seen  scattered  and  in  distress. 

After  much  suffering  on  this  perilous  journey,  David 
reached  Clay  County,  where  his  brother  John  had  located, 
on  March  24,  1834.  He  found  the  Saints  in  a  truly  pit- 
iable condition.  Driven  from  their  homes  in  and  about 
Independence  before  the  crops  of  the  previous  year  could 
be  utilized,  their  fields  laid  waste,  their  houses  and  in  many 
instances  all  their  belongings  burned  by  the  mob,  many  of 
the  people  hardly  knew  how  they  had  been  preserved 
through  the  winter.  The  Lord  only  will  ever  know. 

David's  whole  soul  went  out  to  the  sufferers.  His  time 
was  spent  night  and  day  in  ministering  to  their  necessities. 
That  attribute  of  the  Lord,  which  we  are  sent  here  partic- 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  29 

ularly  to  cultivate,  of  love  for  all  things,  was  most  fully 
exercised  in  David  during  this  period  of  his  development. 
Even  the  most  despised  of  the  animal  kingdom  came  with- 
in the  reach  of  his  sympathy,for  while  traveling  among  the 
people  he  interposed  whenever  opportunity  offered  to  pre- 
vent the  destruction  even  of  the  rattlesnakes  with  which 
the  country  was  infested.  Explaining  on  one  such  occasion 
that  we  need  not  look  for  animals  to  become  harmless  so 
long  as  men  cherish  enmity,  he  drove  the  intruder  with  a 
brush  of  leaves  into  retirement. 

Not  even  the  men  who  had  brought  upon  his  brethren 
and  sisters  the  suffering  he  so  untiringly  sought  to  relieve, 
could  call  from  David  any  heated  demonstration  of  bitter- 
ness. While  he  stood  ready  to  go  with  the  Saints  back  to 
their  homes,  and  advocated  such  a  course,  he  was  yet  un- 
willing to  entertain  for  their  enemies  a  feeling  of  ven- 
geance. 

In  June,  1834,  when  Zion's  camp  had  arrived,  David 
met  in  council  with  a  number  of  his  brethren  and  the  lead- 
ers of  the  mob.  At  the  close  of  the  conference,  on  account 
of  some  remark  of  his,  one  of  the  mobocrats  drew  a  bowie 
knife  on  David,  swearing: 

"You  d — d  Mormon,  I'll  cut  your  d — d  throat/' 

"My  friend,  do  nothing  rash." 

"For  God's  sake  don't  shoot." 

David's  composure  and  gentle  reply  threw  the  man 
into  a  state  of  alarm  for  his  own  safety.  It  was  beyond  him 
to  conceive  of  such  unruffled  demeanor  unless  his  antagon- 
ist relied  for  his  security  on  concealed  weapons.  But  David 
was  wholly  unarmed,except  with  the  affection  which  knows 


30  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

no  fear.  There  are  other  instances  in  his  career  when 
David's  fearlessness  led  his  enemies  to  believe  he  was 
armed.  These,  however,  will  be  noted  as  we  proceed. 

The  Prophet  Joseph  left  Missouri  for  Kirtland  early  in 
July,  and  in  September  David  took  a  steamer  at  the  small 
town  of  La  Grange  on  the  Mississippi  river,  and,  in  com- 
pany with  Warren  Parish,  started  on  a  mission  to  the 
Southern  States.  At  Paris,  Henry  County,  Tennessee, 
where  they  arrived  in  October,  the  Elders  remained  preach- 
ing about  three  months.  During  this  time  twenty  converts 
were  made  and  many  sick  were  healed. 

Of  the  many  cases  of  healing  performed  under  David's 
administrations,  one  of  the  most  wonderful  perhaps  was 
that  of  the  wife  of  Johnston  F.  Lane.  She  had  been  sick 
for  eight  years,  and  for  a  year  past  had  been  unable  to 
.walk.  Hearing  of  the  Elders  she  begged  her  husband  to 
send  for  them.  David  answered  the  summons  at  once.  As 
was  his  custom,  he  first  explained  the  Gospel  and  upon  re- 
ceiving from  the  lady  an  assurance  of  faith  in  the  Lord,  he 
laid  his  hands  on  her,  saying: 

"In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  rebuke  the  disorder 
and  command  it  to  depart." 

As  he  said  this  she  was  instantly  made  whole,  and  at 
his  command  and  in  accordance  with  her  promise,  she  went 
into  the  water  and  was  baptized  within  the  hour.  Among 
the  promises  made  her  at  her  confirmation,  was  one  that 
she  should  bear  a  son  in  less  than  a  year,  though  she  had 
been  married  twelve  years  and  was  childless.  The  proph- 
ecy was  fulfilled,  and,  out  of  the  gratitude  to  the  servant  of 
the  Lord  under  whose  hands  the  mother  had  been  so  mar- 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  31 

velously  healed,  the  child  was  named  David  Patten  Lane. 
The  mother  bore  several  children  afterward. 

IV. 

Chosen  an  Apostle— Ordination — Revelation  instructing  the 
Twelve — Date  of  birth — Healing  of  Mrs.  Stearns— Impres- 
sion of  Lorenzo  Snow. 

From  Paris,  Tennessee,  David  made  his  way  to  Kirt- 
land,  where  events  very  nearly  concerning  him  were-  soon 
to  take  place. 

Even  before  the  organization  of  the  Church,  two  of  the 
witnesses  to  the  Book  of  Mormon,  were  directed  to  search 
out  the  Twelve  Apostles,  and  as  a  mark  by  which  these 
men  were  to  be  known  the  Lord  particularizes: 

"And  the  Twelve  are  they  who  shall  desire  to  take  up- 
on them  my  name  with  full  purpose  of  heart." 

In  his  diary  under  date  of  1835,  the  Prophet  Joseph 
writes : 

"On  the  Sabbath,  previous  to  the  14th  of  February, 
Brothes  Joseph  and  Brigham  Young  came  to  my  house 
after  meeting  and  sang  for  me ;  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was 
poured  out  upon  us,  and  I  told  them  I  wanted  those 
brethren  together  who  went  up  to  Zion  in  the  camp  the 
previous  summer,  for  I  had  a  blessing  for  them." 

Of  the  minutes  of  that  meeting  on  February  14th,  a 
brief  extract  will  be  interesting: 

"President  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  after  making  many  re- 
marks on  the  subject  of  choosing  the  Twelve,  wanted  an 
expression  from  the  brethren  if  they  would  be  satisfied  to 
have  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  dictate  in  the  choice  of  the  El- 


32  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

ders  to  be  Apostles;  whereupon  all  the  Elders  present  ex- 
pressed their  anxious  desire  to  have  it  so. 

"A  hymn  was  then  sung,  'Hark,  Listen  to  the 
Trumpeters/  President  Hyrum  prayed  and  meeting  was 
dismissed  for  one  hour. 

"Assembled  pursuant  to  adjournment^and  commenced 
with  prayer. 

"President  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  said  that  the  first  busi- 
ness of  the  meeting  was  for  the  three  witnesses  of  the  Book 
of  Mormon  to  pray,  each  one,  and  then  proceed  to  choose 
twelve  men  from  the  Church  as  Apostles,  to  go  to  all  na- 
tions, kindreds,  tongues  and  people. 

"The  three  witnesses,  viz.,  Oliver  Cowdery,  David 
Whitmer  and  Martin  Harris,  united  in  prayer. 

"These  three  witnesses  were  then  blessed  by  the  lay- 
ing on  of  the  hands  of  the  Presidency. 

"The  witnesses  then,  according  to  a  former  command- 
ment, proceeded  to  make  a  choice  of  the  Twelve.  Their 
names  are  as  follows: 

Lyman  E.  Johnson.  Wm.  E.  McLellin, 

Brigham  Young,  John  F.  Boynton. 

Heber  C.  Kimball,  Orson  Pratt, 

Orson  Hyde,  William  Smith, 

David  W.  Patten,  Thos.  B.  Marsh, 

Luke  Johnson,  Parley  P.  Pratt." 

Under  the  hands  of  the  witnesses,  the  Twelve  were 
next  ordained.  David's  ordination  occurred  on  Sunday, 
February  15,  1835,  m  language  of  which  the  following 
quotation  from  the  minutes  is  probably  only  a  synopsis : 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  33 

"0  God,  give  this,  Thy  servant,  a  knowledge  of  Thy 
will;  may  he  be  like  one  of  old,  who  bore  testimony  of 
Jesus ;  may  he  be  a  new  man  from  this  day  forth.  He  shall 
be  equal  with  his  brethren,  the  Twelve,  and  have  the  qual- 
ifications of  the  Prophets  before  him;  may  his  body  be 
strong  and  never  weary;  may  he  walk  and  not  faint.  May 
he  have  power  over  all  diseases,  and  faith  according  to  his 
desires  ;may  the  heavens  be  opened  upon  him  speedily, that 
he  may  bear  testimony  from  knowledge;  that  he  may  go  to 
the  nations  and  isles  afar  off.  May  he  have  a  knowledge  of 
the  things  of  the  kingdom  from  the  beginning,  and  be  able 
to  tear  down  priestcraft  like  a  lion;  may  he  have  power  to 
smite  his,  enemies  before  him  with  utter  destruction;  may 
he  continue  till  the  Lord  comes.  0  Father,  we  seal  these 
blessings  upon  him.  Even  so.  Amen." 

The  period  intervening  till  the  4th  of  May, when  their 
first  mission  was  entered  upon,  was  a  varitable  Pentecost 
to  the  newly  chosen  Twelve.  Through  the  Prophet  Joseph 
and  his  counselors  the  Lord  truly  poured  out  upon  them 
the  choicest  blessings  of  heaven.  On  March  28th,  in  an- 
swer to  their  petition  for  "a  revelation  of  His  mind  and 
will  concerning  our  duty  the  coming  season,  even  a  great 
revelation  that  will  enlarge  our  hearts,  comfort  us  in  ad- 
versity, and  brighten  our  hopes  amidst  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness," the  Lord,  through  the  Prophet,  answered  every  de- 
sire of  their  hearts  with  the  revelation  Section  107,  in  the 
Doctrine  and  Covenants,  as  follows: 

"1.  There  are  in  the  church,  two  Priesthoods,  name- 
ly, the  Melchisedek,  and  Aaronic,  including  the  Levitical 
priesthood. 


34  LIFE    OF    DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

"2.  Why  the  first  is  called  the  Melchisedek  Priest- 
hood, is  because  Melchisedek  was  such  a  great  High  Priest. 

"3.  Before  his  day  it  was  called  the  Holy  Priesthood, 
after  the  order  of  the  Son  of  God; 

"4.  But  out  of  respect  or  reverence  to  the  name  of 
the  Supreme  Being,  to  avoid  the  too  frequent  repetition  oi 
his  name,  they,  the  church,  in  ancient  days,  called  that 
Priesthood  after  Melchisedek,  or  the  Melchisedek  Priest- 
hood. 

"5.  All  other  authorities  or  offices  in  the  church  are 
appendages  to  this  Priesthood. 

"6.  But  there  are  two  divisions  or  grand  heads — one 
is  the  Melchisedek  Priesthood,and  the  other  is  the  Aaronic, 
or  Levitical  Priesthood. 

"7.  The  office  of  an  Elder  comes  under  the  Priest- 
hood of  Melchisedek. 

"8.  The  Melchisedek  Priesthood  holds  the  right  of 
Presidency,  and  has  power  and  authority  over  all  the  of- 
fices in  the  church  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  to  administer 
in  spiritual  things. 

"9.     The  Presidency  of  the  High  Priesthood,  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedek,  have  a  right  to  officiate  in  all  the 
offices  in  the  church. 

"10.  High  Priests  after  the  order  of  the  Melchisedek 
Priesthood,  have  a  right  to  officiate  in  their  own  standing, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Presidency,  in  administering 
spiritual  things;  and  also  in  the  office  of  an  elder,  priest, 
(of  the  Levitical  order,)  teacher,  deacon,  and  member. 

"11.  An  elder  has  a  right  to  officiate  in  his  stead 
when  the  High  Priest  is  not  present. 

"12.  The  High  Priest  and  elder  are  to  administer  in 
spiritual  things,  agreeable  to  the  covenants  and  command- 
ments of  the  church;  and  they  have  a  right  to  officiate  in 
all  these  offices  of  the  church  when  there  are  no  higher 
authorities  present. 

"13.     The  second  priesthood  is  called  the  priesthood 


LIFE    OF    DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  35 

of  Aaron,  because  it  was  conferred  upon  Aaron  and  his 
seed,  throughout  all  their  generations. 

"14.  Why  it  is  called  the  lesser  priesthood,  is  because 
it  is  an  appendage  to  the  greater  or  the  Melchisedek  Priest- 
hood, and  has  power  in  administering  outward  ordinances. 

"15.  The  bishopric  is  the  presidency  of  this  priest- 
hood and  holds  the  keys  or  authority  of  the  same. 

"16.  No  man  has  a  legal  right  to  this  office,  to  hold 
the  keys  of  this  priesthood,  except  he  be  a  literal  descend- 
ant of  Aaron. 

"17.  But  as  a  High  Priest  of  the  Melchisedek  Priest- 
hood has  authority  to  officiate  in  all  the  lesser  offices,  he 
may  officiate  in  the  office  of  bishop  when  no  literal  de- 
scendant of  Aaron  can  be  found,  provided  he  is  called  and 
set  apart  and  ordained  unto  this  power  by  the  hands  of 
the  Presidency  of  the  Melchisedek  Priesthood. 

"18.  The  power  and  authority  of  the  Higher  or  Mel- 
chisedek Priesthood,  is  to  hold  the  keys  of  all  the  spiritual 
blessings  of  the  church — 

"19.  To  have  the  privilege  of  receiving  the  myster- 
ies of  the  kingdom  of  heaven — to  have  the  heavens  opened 
unto  them — to  commune  with  the  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  first  born,  and  to  enjoy  the  communion  and 
presence  of  God  the  Father,  and  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the 
new  covenant. 

"20.  The  power  and  authority  of  the  lesser,or  Aaron- 
ic. priesthood,  is  to  hold  the  keys  of  the  ministering  of  an- 
gels, and  to  administer  in  outward  ordinances,  the  letter  of 
the  gospel — the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  agreeable  to  the  covenants  and  commandments. 

"21.  Of  necessity  there  are  presidents,  or  presiding 
offices  growing  out  of,or  appointed  of  or  from  among  those 
who  are  ordained  to  the  several  offices  in  these  two  priest- 
hoods. 

"22.  Of  the  Melchisedek  Priesthood,  three  Presiding 
High  Priests,  chosen  by  the  body,  appointed  and  ordained 


E36 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 


to  that  office,  and  upheld  by  the  confidence,  faith,  and 
prayer  of  the  church,  form  a  quorum  of  the  Presidency  of 
the  church. 

"23.  The  Twelve  traveling  counselors  are  called  to 
be  the  Twelve  Apostles,  or  special  witnesses  of  the  name 
of  Christ  in  all  the  world;  thus  differing  from  other  offi- 
cers in  the  church  in  the  duties  of  their  calling. 

"24.  And  they  form  a  quorum,  equal  in  authority 
and  power  to  the  three  Presidents  previously  mentioned. 

"25.  The  seventy  are  also  called  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel, and  to  be  especial  witnesses  unto  the  Gentiles  and  in 
all  the  world.  Thus  differing  from  other  officers  in  the 
church  in  the  duties  of  their  calling; 

"26.  And  they  form  a  quorum  equal  in  authority  to 
that  of  the  Twelve  special  witnesses  or  apostles  just  named. 

"27.  And  every  decision  made  by  either  of  these 
quorums,  must  be  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  same; 
that  is,  every  member  in  each  quorum  must  be  agreed  to 
its  decisions,  in  order  to  make  their  decisions  of  the  same 
power  or  validity  one  with  the  other. 

"28.  (A  majority  may  form  a  quorum,  when  circum- 
stances render  it  impossible  to  be  otherwise.) 

"29.  Unless  this  is  the  case,  their  decisions  are  not 
entitled  to  the  same  blessings  which  the  decisions  of  a 
quorum  of  three  Presidents  were  anciently,  who  were  or- 
dained after  the  order  of  Melchisedek,  and  were  righteous 
and  holy  men. 

"30.  The  decisions  of  these  quorums,  or  either  of 
them,  are  to  be  made  in  all  righteousness,  in  holiness,  and 
lowliness  of  heart,  meekness  and  long-suffering,  and  in 
faith,  and  virtue,  and  knowledge,  temperance,  patience, 
godliness,  brotherly  kindness  and  charity; 

"31.  Because  the  promise  is,  if  these  things  abound 
in  them,  they  shall  not  be  unfruithful  in  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord. 

"32.     And  in  case  that  any  decision  of  these  quorums 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  37 

is  made  in  unrighteousness,  it  may  be  brought  before  a 
general  assembly  of  the  several  quorums,  which  constitute 
the  spiritual  authorities  of  the  church,  otherwise  there  can 
be  no  appeal  from  their  decision. 

"33.  The  Twelve  are  a  traveling  presiding  High 
Council,  to  officiate  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Presidency  of  the  church,  agreeable  to  the 
institution  of  heaven ;  to  build  up  the  church,  and  regulate 
all  the  affairs  of  the  same  in  all  nations;  first  unto  the 
Gentiles,  and  secondly  unto  the  Jews. 

"34.  The  seventy  are  to  act  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
under  the  direction  of  the*  Twelve  or  the  traveling  High 
Council,  in  building  up  the  church  and  regulating  all  the 
affairs  of  the  same  in  all  nations — -first  unto  the  Gentiles 
and  then  to  the  Jews; 

"35.  The  Twelve  being  sent  out,  holding  the  keys 
to  open  the  door  by  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ — and  first  unto  the  Gentiles  and  then  unto  the  Jews. 

"36.  The  standing  High  Councils,  at  the  Stakes  of 
Zion,  form  a  quorum  equal  in  authority,  in  the  affairs  of 
the  church,  in  all  their  decisions,  to  the  quorum  of  the 
Presidency,  or  to  the  traveling  High  Council. 

"37.  The  High  Council  in  Zion,  form  a  quorum 
equal  in  authority,  in  the  affairs  of  the  church,  in  all  their 
decisions,  to  the  Councils  of  the  Twelve  at  the  Stakes  of 
Zion. 

"38.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  traveling  High  Council  to 
call  upon  the  seventy,  when  they  need  assistance,  to  fill 
the  several  calls  for  preaching  and  administering  the  gos- 
pel, instead  of  any  others. 

"39.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Twelve,  in  all  large  branch- 
es ^of  the  church,  to  ordain  evangelical  ministers,  as  they 
shall  be  designated  unto  them  by  revelation. 

"40.  The  order  of  this  priesthood  was  confirmed  to 
be  handed  down  from  father  to  son,  and  rightly  belongs  to 


38  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

the  literal  descendants  of  the  chosen  seed,  to  whom  the 
promises  were  made. 

"41.  This  order  was  instituted  in  the  days  of  Adam, 
and  came  down  by  lineage  in  the  following  manner : — 

"42.  From  Adam  to  Seth,  who  was  ordained  by 
Adam  at  the  age  of  69  years,  and  was  blessed  by  him  three 
years  previous  to  his  (Adam's)  death,  and  received  the 
promise  of  God  by  his  father  that  his  posterity  should  be 
the  chosen  of  the  Lord,  and  that  they  should  be  preserved 
unto  the  end  of  the  earth, 

"43.  Because  he  (Seth)  was  a  perfect  man,  and  his 
likeness  was  the  express  likeness  of  his  father's,  insomuch 
that  he  seemed  to  be  like  unto  his  father  in  all  things, 
and  could  be  distinguished  from  him  only  by  his  age. 

"44.  Enos  was  ordained  at  the  age  of  134  years  and 
four  months,  by  the  hand  of  Adam. 

"45.  God  called  upon  Cainan  in  the  wilderness,  in 
the  fortieth  year  of  his  age,  and  he  met  Adam  in  journey- 
ing to  the  place  Shedolamak.  He  was  87  years  old  when  he 
received  his  ordination. 

"46.  Mahalaleel  was  496  years  and  seven  days  old 
when  he  was  ordained  by  the  hand  of  Adam,  who  also 
blessed  him. 

"47.  Jared  was  200  years  old  when  he  was  ordained 
under  the  hand  of  Adam,  who  also  blessed  him. 

"48.  Enoch  was  25  years  old  when  he  was  ordained 
under  the  hand  of  Adam,  and  he  was  65  and  Adam  blessed 
him. 

"49.  And  he  saw  the  Lord,  and  he  walked  with  him, 
and  was  before  his  face  continually;  and  he  walked  with 
God  365  years,  making  him  430  years  old  when  he  was 
translated. 

"50.  Methuselah  was  100  years  old  when  he  was  or- 
dained under  the  hand  of  Adam. 

"51.  Lamech  was  32  years  old  when  he  was  ordained 
under  the  hand  of  Seth. 


LIFE    OF   DAVID    W.    PATTEN.  39 

"52.  Noah  was  10  years  old  when  he  was  ordained 
under  the  hand  of  Methuselah. 

"53.  Three  years  previous  to  the  death  of  Adam,  he 
called  Seth,  Enos,  Cainan,  Mahalaleel,  Jared,  Enoch,  and 
Methuselah,  who  were  all  High  Priests,  with  the  residue 
of  his  posterity  who  were  righteous,  into  the  valley  of 
Adam-ondi-Ahman,  and  there  bestowed  upon  them  his  last 
blessing. 

"54.  And  the  Lord  appeared  unto  them,  and  they 
rose  up  and  blessed  Adam,  and  called  him  Michael,  the 
Prince,  the  Archangel. 

"55.  And  the  Lord  administered  comfort  unto 
Adam,  and  said  unto  him,  I  have  set  thee  to  be  at  the  head 
— a  multitude  of  nations  shall  come  of  thee,  and  thou  art 
a  prince  over  them  forever. 

"56.  And  Adam  stood  up  in  the  midst  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  notwithstanding  he  was  bowed  down  with 
age,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  predicted  whatsoever 
should  befall  his  posterity  unto  the  latest  generation. 

"57.  These  things  were  all  written  in  the  book  of 
Enoch,  and  are  to  be  testified  of  in  due  time. 

"58.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Twelve,  also,  to  ordain 
and  set  in  order  all  the  other  officers  of  the  church." 

Just  before  starting  off  on  their  first  mission  as  a 
quorum  unto  the  eastern  states,  to  set  the  branches  of  the 
Church  in  order,  the  Twelve  were  instructed  to  take  their 
places  in  council,  according  to  age,  the  oldest  to  be  seated 
at  the  head.  In  pursuance  thereof,  the  Twelve  were  ar- 
ranged with  Thomas  B.  Marsh,  David  W.  Patten  and  Brig- 
ham  Young  in  the  order  named ;  and  this  fact  gives  us  the 
most  definite  information  we  now  have  as  to  the  date  of 
David's  birth.  Thomas  B.  Marsh,  being  the  oldest  of  the 
Twelve,  was  born  November  1,  1799,  and  Brigham  Young 


40  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

on  June  1,  1801,  and  somewhere  between  these  dates  was 
the  birthday  of  David. 

The  4th  of  May  saw  the  departure  of  the  Twelve  from 
Kirtland.  The  next  five  months  were  spent  by  David  in 
traveling  with  his  quorum  through  New  York,  Canada, 
Vermont,  and  Maine,  holding  meetings  and  setting 
branches  in  order. 

While  a  conference  was  being  held  at  Bethel,  Maine, 
a  young  woman,  Mary  Ann  Stearns, who  had  been  troubled 
for  five  years  with  an  extremely  aggravated  case  of  heart 
disease,  sent  for  the  Elders,  and  upon  investigation  asked 
for  baptism.  David  was  mouth  in  the  confirmation  as  well 
as  in  administering  to  her  afterward  for  her  health,  and 
made  her  the  promise  that  she  should  be  entirely  restored 
to  perfect  health  and  soundness.  She  afterwards  became 
the  wife  of  Apostle  Parley  P.  Pratt,  and  endured  all  the 
hardships  through  which  the  Saints  were  called  to  pass; 
but  from  that  time  till  the  time  of  her  death  in  1891,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-two  years,  she  never  again  complained  of 
heart  trouble. 

The  Twelve  returned  to  Kirtland  in  September,  1835. 

The  indelibility  of  the  impressions  made  by  David 
upon  those  with  whom  he  associated  was  something  re- 
markable. Though  it  is  more  than  sixty  years  since  his 
death,  the  Saints  who  knew  him  in  life  still  recall  with 
pleasure  the  inspiration  of  his  presence.  In  the  course 
of  a  ride  of  twenty-five  miles  with  him  on  horseback  about 
the  time  of  David's  return  from  his  mission  with  the 
Twelve,  Lorenzo  Snow  first  received  a  testimony  of  the 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  41 

truth  of  the  Gospel.    Sister  Eliza  B,  Snow  in  the  biogra- 
phy of  her  brother  best  describes  the  occurrence. 

"On  his  way  to  Oberlin,  my  brother  accidentally  fell 
in  company  with  David  W.  Patten,  an  incident  to  which 
he  frequently  refers  as  one  of  those  seemingly  trivial  oc- 
currences in  human  life  which  leaves  an  indelible  trace. 
This  gentleman  was  an  early  champion  of  the  fulness  of 
the  Gospel  as  taught  by  Jesus  and  His  Apostles  in  the  me- 
ridian of  time,  and  revealed  in  our  own  day  through  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith,  to  which  cause  Elder  Patten  fell  a 
martyr  on  the  24th  of  October,  1838,  in  Missouri,  during 
the  terrible  scenes  of  persecution  through  which  the  Lat- 
ter-day Saints  passed  in  that  State.  He  possessed  a  mind 
of  deep  thought  and  rich  intelligence.  In  conversation 
with  him,  my  brother  was  much  impressed  with  the  depth 
and  beauty  of  the  philosophical  reasoning  with  which  this 
inspired  Elder  seemed  perfectly  familiar  as  he  descanted 
on  the  condition  of  the  human  family  in  connection  with 
the  sayings  of  the  ancient  Prophets,  as  recorded  in  the 
Scriptures — the  dealings  with,  and  the  purposes  of  God  in 
relation  to, His  children  on  the  earth.  From  that  time  a  new 
field  with  a  new  train  of  reflections,  was  open  to  my  broth- 
er's mind,  the  impress  of  which  has  never  been  erased." 

V. 

A  period  of  rest — Endowments — Second  mission  to  Tennessee — 
Meets  Wilford  Woodruff  and  Abraham  O.  Smoot— Trial  by 
mob  court— Escape— Interview  with  Cain— Bares  his  breast 
to  a  mob. 

Without  doubt  the  most  enjoyable  period  of  David's 
life,  was  that  spent  at  home  with  his  wife,  and  in  council 


42  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

with  his  Quorum,  in  Kirtland,  during  the  next  eight 
months.  Mingling  with  his  brethren  in  the  most  intimate 
relationship,,  in  the  school  for  the  study  of  languages,  in 
the  school  of  the  Prophets,,  each  preparing  himself  in 
mutual  bearing  and  forbearance  one  with  another,  to  re- 
ceive his  endowments  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple, 
David  won  from  all  their  lasting  love  and  respect. 

At  the  dedication  of  the  Kirtland  Temple  on  March 
27,  1836,  after  giving  the  interpretation  of  a  discourse  in 
tongues  delivered  by  Brigham  Young,  David  himself 
spoke  in  tongues. 

Eeceiving  his  blessings  and  endowments  in  the  Tem- 
ple directly  after  its  dedication,  David  took  his  wife  and. 
started  on  another  mission  into  Tennessee,  where  he  met 
for  the  first  time  Wilford  Woodruff     and     Abraham    0. 
Smoot. 

Of  this  time  President  Woodruff  writes: 

"Brother  Smoot  traveled  with  me  constantly  till  the 
21st  of  April,  when  we  had  the  privilege  of  meeting  with 
Elder  David  W.  Patten,  who  had  come  direct  from  Kirt- 
land, and  who  had  been  ordained  one  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles. 

"It  was  a  happy  meeting.  He  gave  us  an  account  of 
the  endowments  at  Kirtland,  the  glorious  blessings  re- 
ceived, the  ministration  of  angels,  the  organization  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles  and  Seventies,  and  informed  me  that  I 
was  appointed  a  member  of  the  second  quorum  of  Seven- 
ties. All  of  this  was  glorious  news  to  me,  and  caused 
my  heart  to  rejoice. 

"On  the  27th  of  May  we  were  joined  by  Elder  War- 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  43 

ren  Parrish,  direct  from  Kirtlami.    We  had  a  happy  time 
together. 

"On  the  28th,  we  held  a  conference  at  Brother  Seth 
Utley's,  where  were  represented  all  the  branches  of  the 
Church  in  the  South. 

"I  was  ordained  on  the  31st  of  May  a  member  of  the 
second  quorum  of  Seventies  under  the  hands  of  David  W. 
Patten  and  Warren  Parrish. 

"At  the  close  of  the  conference  we  separated  for  a 
short  time.  Elders  Patten  and  Parrish  labored  in  Tennes- 
see, Brother  Smoot  and  myself  in  Kentucky.  On  the  9th 
of  June  we  all  met  at  Damon  Creek  branch,where  Brother 
Patten  baptized  two.  One  was  Father  Henry  Thomas, 
who  had  been  a  revolutionary  soldier  under  General 
Washington,  and  father  of  Daniel  and  Henry  Thomas. 

"A  warrant  was  issued,  on  the  oath  of  a  priest,  against 
D.  W.  Patten,  W.  Parrish  and  myself.  We  were  accused 
in  the  warrant  of  the  great  'crime'  of  testifying  that 
Christ  would  come  in  this  generation,and  that  we  promised 
the  Holy  Ghost  to  those  whom  we  baptized.  Brothers 
Patten  and  Parrish  were  taken  on  the  19th  of  June.  I 
being  in  another  county,  escaped  being  arrested.  The 
brethren  were  put  under  two  thousand  dollars  bonds  to 
appear  at  court.  Albert  Petty  and  Seth  Utley  were  their 
bondsmen.  ' 

"They  were  tried  on  the  22nd  of  June. 

"They  plead  their  own  cause.  Although  men  came 
forward  and  testified  they  did  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  after 
they  were  baptized,  the  brethren  were  condemned;  but 


44  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.   PATTEN. 

were  finally  released  by  paying  the  expenses  of  the  mob 
court. 

"There  was  one  peculiar  circumstance  connected  with 
this  trial  by  a  mob  court,  which  was  armed  to  the  teeth. 
When  the  trial  was  through  with,  the  people  were  not  will- 
ing to  permit  more  than  one  to  speak.  Warren  Parrish 
had  said  but  few  words,  and  they  were  not  willing  to  let 
David  Patten  speak.  But  he,  feeling  the  injustice  of  the 
court,  and  being  filled  with  the  power  of  God,  arose  to  his 
feet  and  delivered  a  speech  of  about  twenty  minutes,  hold- 
ing them  spell-bound  while  he  told  them  of  their  wicked- 
ness and  the  abominations  that  they  were  guilty  of,  also  of 
the  curse  of  God  that  awaited  them,  if  they  did  not  repent, 
for  taking  up  two  harmless,  inoffensive  men  for  preaching 
the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

''When  be  had  got  through  his  speech  the  judge  said, 
'You  must  be  armed  with  secret  weapons,  or  you  would 
not  talk  in  this  fearless  manner  to  an  armed  court/ 

"Brother  Patten  replied:  'I  have  weapons  that  you 
know  not  of,  and  they  are  given  me  of  God,  for  He  gives 
me  all  the  power  I  have/ 

"The  judge  seemed  willing  to  get  rid  of  them  almost 
upon  any  terms,  and  offered  to  dismiss  them  if  their 
friends  would  pay  the  costs,  which  the  brethren  present 
freely  offered  to  do. 

"When  the  two  were  released,  they  mounted  their 
horses  and  rode  a  mile  to  Seth  Utley's;  but,  as  soon  as  they 
had  left,  the  court  became  ashamed  that  they  had  been 
let  go  so  easily  and  the  whole  mob  mounted  their  horses  to 
follow  them  to  Utley's. 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  45 

"One  of  the  Saints,  seeing  the  state  of  affairs,  went 
on  before  the  mob  to  notify  the  brethren,  so  that  they  had 
time  to  ride  into  the  woods  near  by. 

"They  traveled  along  about  three  miles  to  Brother 
Albert  Petty's,  and  went  to  bed.  The  night  was  dark, 
and  they  fell  asleep. 

"But  Brother  Patten  was  warned  in  a  dream  to  get  up 
and  flee,  as  the  mob  would  soon  be  there.  They  both 
arose,  saddled  their  animals,  and  rode  into  the  adjoining 
county. 

"The  house  they  had  just  left  was  soon  surrounded  by 
the  mob,  but  the  brethren  had  escaped  through  the  mercy 
of  God." 

In  that  expression,  referring  to  the  Lord,  "He  gives 
me  all  the  power  I  have,"  Apostle  David  W.  Patten  gave 
at  once  the  secret  and  the  watchword  of  his  wonderful  ca- 
reer. 

It  was  probably  not  long  after  his  arrival  in  Tennessee 
in  the  spring  of  1836,  that  David  had  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable experiences  of  his  life.  He  was  making  his 
home  with  Levi  Taylor,  the  step-father  of  Abraham  0. 
Smoot,  at  the  time  and  had  been  to  Paris,  some  sixteen 
miles  away,  holding  a  meeting.  Eiding  home  in  the 
evening,  just  where  his  road  lay  through  a  dense  growth 
of  brush,  called  in  those  parts  a  "barren,"  he  suddenly  be- 
came aware  that  a  person  on  foot  by  his  side  was  keeping 
pace  with  the  mule  on  which  he  rode. 

But  the  subjoined  letter,  dated  at  Provo,  Utah,  will 
explain  the  matter: 
President  Joseph  F.  Smith,  Salt  Lake  City  : 

Dear  Brother:— In  relation  to  the  subject  of  the  visit 


46  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

of  Cain  to  Brother  David  W.  Patten  in  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, about  which  you  wrote  to  me,  I  will  say  that  ac- 
cording to  the  best  of  my  recollection  it  was  in  the  month 
of  September,  1835. 

It  was  in  the  evening,  just  twilight,  when  Brother 
Patten  rode  up  to  my  father's  house,  alighted  from  his 
mule  and  came  into  the  house.  The  family  immediately 
observed  that  his  countenance  was  quite  changed.  My 
mother  having  first  noticed  his  changed  appearance  said : 
"Brother  Patten,  are  you  sick  ?"  He  replied  that  he  was 
not,  but  had  just  met  with  a  very  remarkable  personage 
who  had  represented  himself  as  being  Cain,  who  murdered 
his  brother,  Abel.  He  went  on  to  tell  the  circumstances 
as  near  as  I  can  recall  in  the  following  language: 

"As  I  was  riding  along  the  road  on  my  mule  I  sudden- 
ly noticed  a  very  strange  personage  walking  beside  me.  He 
walked  along  beside  me  for  about  two  miles.  His  head 
was  about  even  with  my  shoulders  as  I  sat  in  my  saddle. 
He  wore  110  clothing,  but  was  covered  with  hair.  His  skin 
was  very  dark.  I  asked  him  where  he  dwelt  and  he  re- 
plied that  he  had  no  home,  that  he  was  a  wanderer  in  the 
earth  and  traveled  to  and  fro.  He  said  he  was  a  very 
miserable  creature,that  he  had  earnestly  sought  death  dur- 
ing his  sojourn  upon  the  earth,  but  that  he  could  not  die, 
and  his  mission  was  to  destroy  the  souls  of  men.  About 
the  time  he  expressed  himself  thus,  I  rebuked  him  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  by  virtue  of  tho  Holy 
Priesthood,  and  commanded  him  to  go  hence,  and  he  im- 
mediately departed  out  of  my  sight.  When  he  left  me 
I  found  myself  near  your  house." 

There  was  much  conversation  about  the  circumstances 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  47 

between  Brother  Patten  and  my  family  which  I  don't  re- 
call, but  the  above  is  in  substance  his  statement  to  us  at 
the  time.  The  date  is,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  and 
I  think  it  is  correct,  but  it  may  possible  have  been  in  the 
spring  of  1836,  but  I  feel  quite  positive  that  the  former 
date  is  right. 

Hoping  the  above  will  be  satisfactory  to  you  and  an- 
swer your  purpose,  I  am  with  the  kindest  regards,  as  ever, 
Your  friend  and  Brother, 

A.  0.  SMOOT. 

Another  incident  showing  David's  utter  fearlessness, 
occurred  about  this  time.  While  preaching  at  the  house 
of  Father  Fry,  in  Benton  county,  Tennessee,  David  was 
interrupted  by  a  Mr.  Eose,  who  asked  him  to  raise  the 
dead.  David  administered  to  the  man  a  stinging  rebuke 
for  his  wickedness,  when  Mr.  Eose  in  great  anger  left  the 
house.  After  meeting,  however,  he  returned,bringing  with 
him  a  crowd  of  armed  men,  who  stood  in  sullen  array 
about  the  dooryard. 

Probably  for  the  reason  that  he  did  not  wish  the  fam- 
ily to  be  disturbed  by  them,  David  went  out,  cane  in  hand, 
to  learn  their  intentions.  He  was  greeted  with  the  brand- 
ishing of  weapons  and  dire  threats  of  vengeance;  but  with 
the  utmost  coolness  he  bared  his  breast  to  the  mob,  and 
told  them  to  shoot.  The  same  fear  seemed  to  fall  upon 
them  that  possessed  the  mobocrat  in  Missouri,  for  they  fled 
the  premises  as  if  in  fear  of  their  lives. 

David  had  now  arrived  at  the  state  of  advancement, 
noticeable  alike  in  the  life  of  the  Savior,  and  in  the  closing 


48  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

years  of  the  Prophet  Joseph,  where  one  sees,  in  the  light  of 
eternal  truth,  the  utter  shallowness  and  worthlessness  of 
worldly  pride  and  pretense,  and,  cognizant  of  the  fact  that 
no  amount  of  tolerance  will  cure  the  evil,  is  moved  to 
awaken  humility  with  a  sharp  rebuke. 

That  evening,  President  Woodruff  relates,  he  and 
David  went  to  a  stream  of  clear  water  below  the  house,  and 
washed  their  hands  and  feet  as  the  Lord  directs,  and  bore 
testimony  against  those  wicked  men. 

VI. 

David's  personal  appearance— Healing  of  Abraham  O.  Smoot— 
Margaret  Tittle  healed — Prophecy  at  Paris,  Tennessee — 
Journey  to  Far  West — Visits  Kirtland  during  the  great  apos- 
tasy— Chosen  to  Presidency  in  Missouri —  Revelation —  Ex- 
presses a  wish  to  die  as  a  martyr. 

Probably  the  description  of  David's  personal  appear- 
ance with  which  the  most  of  those  who  knew  him  in  life 
agree,  is  that  given  by  President  Abraham  0.  Smoot,  who 
says  he  was  about  six  feet  one  inch  in  height,  stoutly  built, 
though  not  fleshy,  and  of  a  dark  complexion,  with  piercing 
black  eyes.  As  to  disposition,  President  Smoot  describes 
him  as  jovial,  qualifying  his  expression,  however,  with  the 
closing  remark: 

"His  jokes,  though,  were  pretty  solid." 
At  one  time  while  traveling  with  David,  Abraham  0. 
Smoot,  then  little  more  than  a  boy,  became  so  sick  he  could 
sit  on  his  horse  no  longer.  Stopping  at  the  house  of  an 
atheist,  Brother  Smoot  was  put  to  bed,  and  David  assisted 
their  hostess  to  prepare  the  sick  man  some  warm  drinks. 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  49 

His  companion  receiving  no  relief,  David  obtained 
permission  to  "attend  prayers/'  and  kneeling  down  by  the 
bedside  he  laid  his  hands  upon  the  sick  man's  head  and 
asked  the  Lord  to  beal  him. 

"Every  bit  of  pain  left  me/'  said  Brother  Smoot,  in 
relating  the  incident,  "in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye." 

It  was  just  following  this  remark  that  President 
Snioot  said: 

"I  don't  recollect  that  he  ever  failed  in  his  importun- 
ing to  heal  the  sick." 

Once,  when  David  and  Wilford  Woodruff  were  travel- 
ing together,  they  were  called  to  the  bedside  of  a  sick  wo- 
man, Margaret  Tittle,  who  lay  at  the  point  of  death. 
Preaching  the  Gospel  to  her,  David  received  a  promise  that 
if  healed  she  would  be  baptized.  After  being  administered 
to  by  the  servants  of  the  Lord,  she  was  restored  to  perfect 
health  instantly,  when  she  refused  baptism. 

They  told  her  she  was  acting  a  dangerous  part  and 
would  again  be  attacked  if  she  did  not  repent.  Eeturning 
that  way  in  a  few  days,  they  found  her  very  low  again, 
when  she  again  promised,  but  this  time  with  more  sinceri- 
ty, for  after  being  healed  the  second  time,  she  was  led  into 
the  water  and  baptized  by  Wilford  Woodruff 

On  August  20th.,  David  preached  at  the  house  of  Ean- 
dolph  Alexander,  and  after  meeting  baptized  him  and  his 
wife. 

The  spirit  of  mobocracy  seemed  always  to  have 
aroused  in  David  all  the  resentment  of  which  he  was  cap- 
able. At  one  time  while  holding  a  meeting  in  Paris,  Ten- 
nessee, as  related  by  President  Woodruff,  a  mob  gathered 


50  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

in  the  place  of  meeting  with  threats  of  violence.  ^  Instead, 
however,  of  being  intimidated  by  their  presence,  David  de- 
nounced their  undertaking  in  the  most  unmeasured  terms 
and  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  though  the  fulfillment  in  the 
Civil  War  was  then  more  than  twenty-five  years  away,  pre- 
dicted : 

"Before  you  die  some  of  you  will  see  the  streets  of 
Paris  run  with  the  blood  of  its  own  citizens." 

How  fearfully  this  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Paris  in  1862  by  General  Morgan,  during  his  fa- 
mous raid  through  Kentucky  and  Tennessee! 

Early  in  September,  the  seven  branches  of  the  Church 
in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  representing  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  members,  assembled  in  conference  on  Da- 
mon's Creek,  Calloway  County,  Kentucky,  Thomas  B. 
Marsh,  as  president  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  presiding.  On 
the  third  day  of  'the  conference,  David  preached  on  repent- 
ance and  baptism,  and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting,  five  per- 
sons came  forward  and  asked  to  be  baptized. 

Directly  after  conference,  David  with  his  wife  took 
leave  of  the  Saints  and  his  fellow  laborers,  and  returned 
in  safety  with  Thomas  B.  Marsh  and  companion  Elisha  H. 
Groves,  to  Missouri. 

In  leaving  the  field  of  his  labors  of  the  past  six 
months,  in  company  with  Elisha  H.  Groves,  who  had  first 
conferred  upon  him  authority  to  enter  the  missionary  field, 
it  was  but  natural  that  David  should  retrospectively  con- 
template the  work  to  which  his  life  had  been  so  wholly 
given  over  since  that  lonely  ride  through  the  woods  from 
Michigan  to  Indiana.  His  first  disappointing  missionary 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  51 

labors  among  his  friends  and  acquaintances  in  Michigan, 
when  he  expected  all  of  them  to  rejoice  with  him  in  the 
great  light  newly  burst  upon  the  world;  the  first  visit  to 
the  Prophet  Joseph,  followed  by  the  two  successive  mis- 
sions in  the  East;  his  winter's  journey  with  William  D. 
Pratt;  his  labors  in  Missouri  and  in  the  South;  his  ordina- 
tion to  the  Apostleship  with  the*  wonderful  feast  of  bless- 
ings and  endowments  that  followed;  the  return  to  the 
South,  just  terminated — all  these  reflections  crowded  upon 
him  with  all  their  accompanying  memories  of  toil  and  pri- 
vation, with  all  the  accompanying  memories  of  the  powers 
and  blessings  the  Lord  had  bestowed  upon  him;  and  there 
was  no  room  in  his  soul  for  anything  but  gratitude.  Not 
only  so,  but  there  was  a  more  settled  resolution  to  per- 
severe to  the  end;  and  it  was  probably  on  this  journey  back 
to  Missouri  that  in  David's  mind  the  nature  of  that  end 
was  predetermined. 

Upon  his  return  to  Missouri,  after  an  absence  of  two 
years,  David  found  not  a  few  marks  of  progress  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  Saints.  A  new  town  had  been  laid  out  called 
Far  West,  into  which  the  people  were  gathering  from  every 
quarter.  Efforts  were  being  made  to  purchase  all  the  land 
in  the  newly  created  County  of  Caldwell,  and  it  was  to 
gather  means  for  this  purpose  that  President  Thomas  B. 
Marsh  had  made  his  recent  visit  into  Kentucky. 

Locating  on  a  single  lot  in  the  northwest  part  of  town 
given  him  by  the  Saints,  David  soon  had  a  plain  log  house 
erected,  and  from  that  time  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to 
the  welfare  of  the  Church.  His  zeal  in  spreading  the  truth 


52  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

abroad,  was  not  surpassed  by  that  manifested  in  its  defense 
at  home. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1837,  David  preferred  charges 
before  the  High  Council  in  Zion  against  Lyman  Wight  for 
teaching  false  doctrine.  At  the  trial  in  Far  West  on  April 
24th  the  charges  were  sustained,,  the  proper  acknowledge- 
ments soon  after  accepted  by  the  Saints  and  harmony  re- 
stored. The  incident  illustrates  the  disinterestedness  and 
manliness  of  David's  character,  for  his  action  in  this  mat- 
ter seems  only  to  have  drawn  closer  the  ties  of  confidence 
and  friendship  existing  between  himself  and  his  command- 
ing officer  in  the  militia,  Colonel  Lyman  Wight. 

In  June,  in  company  •with  Thomas  B.  Marsh  and  Wil- 
liam D.  Pratt,  David,  responding  to  a  call  for  a  meeting  of 
the  Twelve,  took  a  mission  through  the  intervening  States 
to  Kirtland,  where  they  arrived  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
apostasy.  Here  was  need  of  all  the  courage  he  could  com- 
mand, for  it  was  a  time  to  test  the  integrity  of  the  strong- 
est. 

Deception  and  fraud  and  darkness  had  overcome  his 
close  friend  and  brother-in-law,  Warren  Parrish^  who  tried 
by  every  means  in  his  power  to  turn  David  himself  against 
the  Prophet;  and  the  downfall  of  his  brethren  at  that  time 
was  one  of  the  greatest  sorrows  of  David's  life.  Not  long 
after  the  conference  at  Kirtland  in  September,  1837,  David 
returned  to  Far  West. 

The  spirit  of  the  apostasy  soon  spreading  into  Mis- 
souri, it  was  found  necessary  to  displace  the  three  Presi- 
dents, David  Whitmer,  John  Whitmer  and  W.  W.  Phelps. 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  53 

In  consequence,  Thomas  B.  Marsh  and  David  W.  Patten 
were,  on  February  10th,  sustained  as  temporary  Presidents 
of  the  Church  in  Missouri,  pending  the  arrival  of  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith  from  Kirtland.  At  the  coming  of 
the  Prophet,  March  14th,  1838,  a  conference  was  called,  at 
which  three  weeks  later,  Thomas  B.  Marsh  was  chosen 
President  in  Missouri,  and  David  W.  Patten  and  Brigham 
Young  his  assistants. 

Shortly  after,  on  April  17,  1838,  the  following  revela- 
tion was  received  through  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith: 

"1.  Verily  thus  said  the  Lord,  it  is  wisdom  in  my 
servant  David  W.  Patten,  that  he  settle  up  all  his  business 
as  soon  as  he  possibly  can,  and  make  a  disposition  of  his 
merchandise,  that  he  may  perform  a  mission  unto  me  next 
spring,  in  company  with  others,  even  Twelve,  including 
himself,  to  testify  of  my  name,  and  bear  glad  tidings  unto 
the  world. 

"2.  For  verily  thus  saith  the  Lord,  that  inasmuch  as 
there  are  those  among  you  who  deny  my  name,  others  shall 
be  planted  in  their  stead,  and  receive  their  bishopric. 
Amen/' — Doc.  and  Cov.  Sec.  114. 

It  was  probably  this  revelation  that  occasioned  a  con- 
versation between  the  Prophet  and  David,  reported  by  Wil- 
ford  Woodruff. 

David  made  known  to  the  Prophet  that  he  had  asked 
the  Lord  to  let  him  die  the  death  of  a  martyr,  at  which  the 
Prophet,  greatly  moved,  expressed  extreme  sorrow,  "for," 
said  he  to  David,  "when  a  man  of  your  faith  asks  the  Lord 
for  anything,  he  generally  gets  it." 


54  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 


VII. 

Visits  Adam-ondi-Ahman— Address  to  the  Saints— Spirit  of 
mobocracy  in  Missouri— David  known  as  "Captain  Fear 
Not" — Calms  a  storm — Mobocracy  and  treason — David  suc- 
ceeds to  the  Presidency  of  Twelve. 

In  May,  David  left  Far  West  with  the  Prophet  Joseph 
and  party  to  lay  off  a  Stake  of  Zion  to  the  north  of  them. 
It  was  on  this  trip  that  Adam's  altar  was  discovered,  at 
Adam-ondi-Ahman,  where  a  revelation  was  given  through 
the  Prophet  as  follows  : 

"1.  Adam-ondi-Ahman,  because,  said  he,  it  is  the 
place  where  Adam  shall  come  to  visit  his  people,  or  the 
Ancient  of  Days  shall  sit,  as  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the 
Prophet."— Doc.  and  Cov.  Sec.  116. 

In  his  official  capacity,  David  issued  an  epistle  to  the 
Saints  through  the  Elders"  Journal,  under  date  of  July, 
1838,  into  which,  notwithstanding  the  imperfect  typog- 
raphy as  here  copied,  there  is  breathed  a  spirit  of  concern 
for  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  God,  equalled  only  by  that 
of  integrity  in  defense  of  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith. 

To  the  Saints  Abroad: 

Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters:  Whereas,  many  have 
taken  into  hand  to  set  forth  the  order  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  on  earth,  and  have  testified  of  the  grace  of  God,  as 
given  unto  them,  to  publish  unto  you,  I  also  feel  it  my  duty 
to  write  unto  you,  touching  the  grace  of  God  given  unto 
me,  to  youward;  concerning  the  dispensation  we  have  re- 
ceived; which  is  the  greatest  of  all  dispensations — And  has 


LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  55 

been  spoken  of  by  the  mouths  of  all  the  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  began.  In  this,  my  communication  to  you,  I  de- 
sign to  notice  some  of  these  prophecies.  Now  the  Apostle 
Paul  says  on  this  wise,  "For  I  would  not,  brethren,  that 
you  should  be  ignorant  of  this  mystery,  (lest  you  should  be 
wise  in  your  own  conceit),  that  blindness  in  part  has  hap- 
pened unto  Israel,  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come 
in.  And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved;  as  is  written.  There 
shall  come  out  of  Zion  a  deliverer,  and  shall  turn  away  un- 
godliness from  Jacob/'  What  is  that  he  says?  "For  I 
would  not  have  you  ignorant,"  ignorant  of  what?  Why 
of  this  mystery,  that  blindness  in  part  had  happened  unto 
Israel.  And  to  what  end  ?  Why,  that  salvation  might  come 
unto  the  Gentiles.— See  the  12th  and  13th  verses  of  this 
chapter  (11)  to  the  Eomans.  Now  if  the  fall  of  them  be  the 
riches  of  the  world,  and  the  diminishing  of  them  the  riches 
of  the  Gentiles;  how  much  more  their  fulness?  "For  I 
speak  to  you  Gentiles,  inasmuch  as  I  am  the  apostle  to  the 
Gentiles,  I  magnify  mine  office."  Now,  we  are  to  under- 
stand the  apostle,  as  speaking  of  the  return  of  Israel,  when 
he  said  "how  much  more  their  fulness,"  in  their  return. 
"For  I  would  not  have  you  ignorant  concerning  this  mat- 
ter/' that  blindness  will  depart  from  them  in  the  day  that 
the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  is  come  in,  and  the  reason  is 
very  obvious,  because  it  is  said,  that  out  of  Zion  shall  come  . 
the  deliverer;  and  for  what  cause?  Why  that  the  word 
of  God  might  be  fulfilled.  This  deliverer  might,  through 
the  mercy  of  God,  turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob.  This 
work  evidently  commences  at  the  time  God  begins  to  take 
the  darkness  from  the  minds  of  Israel,  for  this  will  be  the 
work  of  God  by  the  deliverer,  for  he  shall  turn  away  un- 
godliness from  the  whole  family  of  Jacob.  "For  this  is 
my  covenant  with  them,  when  I  shall  take  away  their  sins. 
Now  then,  we  can  see  that  this  deliverer  is  a  kind  of  har- 
binger or  forerunner,  that  is,  one  that  is  sent  to  prepare 
the  way  for  another.  And  this  deliverer  is  such  a  one,  for 


56  LIFE   OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

he  comes  to  turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob.  Conse- 
quently he  must  receive  a  dispensation  and  authority  suit- 
able to  his  calling,,  or  he  could  not  turn  away  ungodliness 
from  Jacob,,  nor  fulfill  the  scripture.  But  the  words  of 
the  prophets  must  be  fulfilled.  And  in  order  to  do  this, 
to  this  messenger  must  be  given  the  dispensation  of  the 
fulness  of  times  according  to  the  prophets.  For  Paul 
says  again,  in  speaking  of  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness 
of  times;  Ephesians  1,  9 :  "Having  made  known  unto  us  the 
mystery  of  his  will  according  to  his  good  pleasure,  which 
he  has  purposed  in  himself,  that  in  the  dispensation  of  the 
fulness  of  times,  he  might  gather  together  in  one  all  things 
in  Christ,  both  which  are  in  Heaven  and  which  are  on 
earth,  even  in  him."  And  Isaiah  says  in  the  llth  chapter 
and  llth  verse,  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 
that  the  Lord  shall  set  his  hand  again  the  second  time  to 
recover  the  remnant  of  his  people/'  Now,  this  is  the  time 
that  the  deliverer  shall  come  out  of  Zion,  and  turn  away 
ungodliness  from  the  house  of  Israel. 

Now,  the  Lord  has  said  that  He  would  set  His  hand 
the  second  time  and  we  ask  for  what  ?  but  to  recover  the 
house  of  Israel.  From  what  have  they  fallen?  most  as- 
suredly they  had  broken  the  covenant,  that  God  had  made 
with  their  fathers,  and  through  their  fathers  with  them. 

For  Paul  says,  Eomans,  11:  19,  20:  "Thou  wilt  say 
then,  the  branches  were  broken  off,  that  I  might  be 
grafted  in.  Well,  because  of  unbelief  they  were  broken 
off,  and  thou  standest  by  faith.  Be  not  high  minded,  but 
fear/' 

Now,  it  is  evident,  that  the  Jews  did  forsake  the  Lord, 
and  by  that  means  broke  the  covenant,  and  now  we  see  the 
need  of  the  Lord's  setting  His  hand  the  second  time  to 
gather  His  people,  according  to  Eph.  1 :  10,  '-That  thp  dis- 
pensation of  the  fulness  of  times,"  etc.  Now  I  ask,  What 
is  a  dispensation?  I  answer,  it  is  power  and  authority  to 


LIFE    OF    DAVID    W.    PATTEN.  57 

dispense  the  word  of  God,  and  to  administer  in  all  the  ordi- 
nances thereof.  This  is  what  we  are  to  understand  by  it, 
for  no  man  ever  had  the  Holy  Ghost  to  deliver  the  Gospel, 
or  to  prophesy  of  things  to  come,  but  had  liberty  to  fulfill 
his  mission;  consequently,  the  argument  is  clear,  for  it 
proves  itself;  nevertheless,  I  will  call  on  the  scriptures  to 
prove  the  assertion.  Ephesians  3  :2,  "If  ye  have  heard  of 
the  dispensation  of  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  given  me  to 
you  ward.  How  that  by  revelation  he  made  known  unto 
me  the  mystery;  as  I  wrote  in  a  few  words."  And  also  in 
Colossians  1:  25:  "Wherefore  I  am  made  a  minister,  ac- 
cording to-  the  dispensation  of  God  which  is  given  to  me 
for  you,  to  fulfill  the  words  of  God."  It  is  evident  then, 
that  the  dispensation  given  the  apostle,  came  to  him  by 
revelation  from  God.  Then  by  this  we  may  understand, 
in  some  degree,  the  power  by  which  he  spake,  as  also  the 
dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times. 

Now,  this  at  first  thought,  would  appear  very  small  to 
some,  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  order  of  God  from 
the  beginning;  but  when  we  take  into  consideration  the 
plan  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  the  world,  we  can  readily 
•see  that  plan  carried  out  most  faithfully  in  all  its  bear- 
ings. See  after  the  fall  of  Adam,  the  plan  of  salvation  was 
made  known  to  him  of  God  himself;  who  in  like  manner, 
in  the  meridian  of  time  revealed  the  same',  in  sending  His 
first  begotten  Son,  Jesus  Christ:  who  also  revealed  the 
same  to  the  apostles,  and  God  raised  Him  from  the  dead  to 
perfect  that  plan.  And  the  apostles  were  made  special  wit- 
nesses of  that  plan;  and  testified  that  "in  the  dispensation 
of  the  fulness  of  times,  that  God  would  gather  together  in 
one,all  things  in  Christ,whether  they  be  things  in  Heaven, 
or  things  on  earth."  Now  the  thing  to  be  known  is,  what 
the  fulness  of  times  means,  or  the  extent  and  authority 
thereof.  It  means  this,  that  the  dispensation  of  the  ful- 
ness of  times  is  made  up  of  all  the  dispensations  that 
ever  have  been  given  since  the  world  began  until  this  time. 


58  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

Unto  Adam  first  was  given  a  dispensation.       It   is    well 
known  that  God  spake  to  him  with  His  own  voice  in  the 
garden,  and  gave  him  the  promise  of  the  Messiah.     And 
unto  Noah  also  was  a  dispensation  given.    For  Jesus  said, 
"As  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noah,  so  shall  it  be  at  the  coming 
of  the  son  of  man."  And  as  the  righteous  were  saved  then, 
and  the  wicked  destroyed,  so  it  will  be  now.      And  from 
Noah  to  Abraham;  and  from  Abraham  to  Moses,  and  from 
Moses  to  Elias;  and  from  Elias  to  John  the  Baptist;  and 
from  John  to  Jesus;  and  from  Jesus  to  Peter,  James  and 
John.       The  apostles  all  having,  received  in  their  time,  a 
dispensation  by  revelation  from  God,  to   accomplish    the 
great  scheme  of  restitution,     spoken  of  by  all  the  Holy 
Prophets  since  the  world  began,  the  end  of  which  is  the 
dispensation  of  the     ulness  of  times.      In  the  which,  all 
things  shall  be  fulfilled,  that  have  been  spoken  of  since  the 
world  was  made.    Now  the  question  is,  unto  whom  is  this 
dispensation  to  be  given  ?  or  by  whom  to  be  revealed  ?  The 
answer  is,  to  the  deliverer  that  was  to  have  come  out  of 
Zion,  and  given  to  him  by  the  angel  of  God.    Eev.  14 :  7. 
"And  I  saw  another  angel  flying  in  the  midst  of  Heaven, 
having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  to  them  that  dwell1 
on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation,  kindred,  tongue  and  peo- 
ple, saying  with  a  loud  voice,  fear  God,  and  give  glory  to 
him  for  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come;  worship  him, 
that  made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  sea,  and  the  fountains 
of  water."    Now  observe,  this  angel  delivers  the  gospel  to 
man  on  the  earth,  and  that  too  when  the  hour  of  the  judg- 
ments of  God  had  come  on  the  generation,  in  the  which 
the  Lord  should  set  His  hand  the  second  time!,  as  stated 
above.      Now  we  have  learned  that  this  deliverer  must  be 
clothed  with  the  power  of  all  the  other  dispensations,  or  it 
could  not  be  called  the  fulness  of  times,  for  this  is  what  it 
means,  that  all  things  shall  be  revealed,  both  in  Heaven 
and  on  earth.    For  the  Lord  said,  there  was  nothing  secret 
that  should  not  be  revealed,  or  hid  that  should  not  come 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  59 

abroad,  and  be  proclaimed  upon  the  housetop.  And  this 
may,  with  propriety,  be  called  the  fulness  of  times.  The 
authority  connected  with  the  ordinances,  renders  the  time 
very  desirable  to  the  man  of  God,  and  renders  him  happy, 
amidst  all  his  trials,  and  afflictions.  To  such  a  one,  through 
the  grace  of  God,  we  are  indebted  for  this  dispensation,  as 
given  by  the  angel  of  the  Lord.  But  to  what  tribe  of 
Israel  was  it  to  be  given?  We  answer,  to  Ephraim,  be- 
cause to  him  were  the  greater  blessings  given.  For  the 
Lord  said  through  his  father,  Joseph:  "A  seer  shall  the 
Lord  raise  up  of  the  fruit  of  my  loins;  yea,  he  truly  said; 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  a  choice  Seer  will  I  raise  up  out  of  the 
fruit  of  thy  loins,  and  he  shall  be  esteemed  highly;  and 
unto  him  will  I  give  commandment,  that  he  shall  do  a  work 
for  the  fruit  of  thy  loins  his  brethren,  which  shall  be  of 
great  worth  unto  them,  even  to  the  bringing  of  them,  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  covenants  which  I  made  with  their 
fathers.  And  I  will  give  unto  him  a  commandment  that 
he  shall  do  no  other  work,  save  the  work  which  I  shall 
command  him;  and  I  will  make  him  great  in  mine  eyes,  for 
he  shall  do  my  work,  and  he  shall  be  great  like  unto  Moses ; 
and  out  of  weakness  he  shall  be  made  strong,  in  that  day 
when  my  work  shall  commence  among  all  people,  unto  the 
restoring  of  the  house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord." 

And  thus  prophesied  Joseph,  saying,  "Behold,  that 
seer  will  the  Lord  bless,  and  they  that  seek  to  destroy  him 
shall  be  confounded.  Behold,  I  am  sure  of  the  fulfillment 
of  this  promise,  and  his  name  shall  be  called  after  me;  and 
it  shall  be  after  the  name  of  his  father;  and  he  shall  be  like 
unto  me,  for  the  thing  which  the  Lord  shall  bring  forth 
by  his  hand  by  the  power  of  the  Father,  shall  bring  my  peo- 
ple unto  salvation.'"'  Thus  prophesied  Joseph — "I  am  sure 
of  this  thing,  even  as  I  am  sure  of  the  promise  of  Moses." 
2nd  Book  of  JSfephi,  2nd  chapter. 

And  again,  Jesus  says,  as  recorded  in  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  526th  page,  2nd  edition:  "Behold  my  servant 


60  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

shall  deal  prudently;  he  shall  be  exalted,  and  shall  he 
esteemed,  and  be  very  high.  As  many  as  were  astonished 
at  thee,  so  shall  he  sprinkle  many  nations.  Kings  shall 
shut  their  mouths  at  him,  for  that  which  had  been  told 
them  shall  they  see;  and  that  which  they  had  not  heard 
shall  they  consider." 

Upon  this  servant  is  bestowed  the  keys  of  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  fulness  of  times.  That  from  him,  the  Priest- 
hood of  God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  might  be 
given  to  many,  and  the  order  of  this  dispensation  estab^ 
lished  on  the  earth.  And  to  the  church  he  has  said  by 
commandment — (See  Book  of  Covenants,  46th  section,  2nd 
paragraph)  "Wherefore,  meaning  the  church,  thou  shalt 
give  heed  unto  all  his  words,  and  commandments,  which  he 
shall  give  unto  you  as  he  receiveth  them,  walking  in  all 
holiness  before  me;  for  his  word  ye  shall  receive  as  from 
mine  own  mouth;  in  all  patience  and  faith,  for  by  doing 
these  things  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
you."  Now,  my  readers,  you  can  see  in  some  degree,  the 
grace  given  unto  this  man  of  God  to  uswards.  That  we,  by 
the  great  mercy  of  God,  should  receive  from  under  his 
hand,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  having  the  promise 
of  partaking  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  on  the  earth  with 
him,  and  with  the  holy  prophets  and  patriaichs,our  fathers. 
For  those  holy  men  are  angels  now.  And  these  are  they, 
who  make  the  fulness  of  times  complete  with  us.  And 
they  who  sin  against  this  authority  given  to  him  (the  be- 
fore mentioned  man  of  God)  sin  not  against  him  only,  but 
against  Moroni,  who  holds  the  keys  of  the  stick  of  Eph- 
raim.  And  also  against  Elias,  who  holds  the  keys  of  the 
bringing  to  pass  the  restitution  of  all  things.  And  also 
John,  the  son  of  Za^harias,  which  Zacharias  Elias  visited, 
and  gave  promise  that  he  should  have  a  son,  and  his  name 
should  be  John,  and  he  should  be  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
Elias,  "which  John  I  have  sent  unto  you,  my  servant  Jo- 
seph Smith,  and  Oliver  Cowdery,  to  ordain  you  to  this  first 


LIFE    OF   DAVID    W.    PATTEN.  61 

Priesthood  even  as  Aaron/'  and  also  Elijah  who  holds  the 
keys  of  committing  the  power,  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the 
fathers  to  the  children,  and  the  hearts  of  the  children  to 
the  fathers,  that  the  whole  earth  may  not  be  smitten  with 
a  curse.  And  also-  Joseph,  and  Jacob,  and  Isaac,  and  Abra- 
ham, your  fathers,  by  whom  the  promises  remain.  And  also 
Michael  or  Adam,  the  father  of  all,  the  Prince  of  all,  the 
Ancient  of  Days.  And  also  "Peter  and  James  and  John, 
whom  I  have  sent  unto  you,  by  whom  I  have  ordained  you, 
and  confirmed  you  to  be  apostles,  and  especial  witnesses  of 
my  name,  and  bear  the  keys  of  your  ministry,  and  of  the 
same  things  I  revealed  unto  you:  unto  whom  I  have  com- 
mitted the  keys  of  my  kingdom,  and  a  dispensation  of  the 
gospel  for  the  last  time,  and  for  the  fulness  of  times,  in  the 
which  I  will  gather  together  in  one  all  things,  both  which 
are  in  heaven  and  which  are  on  earth." 

Therefore,  brethren,  beware  concerning  yourselves, 
that  you  sin  not  against  the  authority  of  this  dispensation, 
nor  think  lightly  of  those  whom  God  has  counted  worthy  of 
so  great  a  calling,  and  for  whose  sake  He  hath  made  them 
servants  unto  you,  that  you  might  be  made  heirs  of  God,  to 
inherit  so  great  a  blessing,  and  be  prepared  for  the  grand 
assembly,  and  sit  there  with  the*  ancient  of  days,  even 
Adam,  our  father,  who  shall  come  to  prepare  you  for  the 
coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord :  for  the  time  is  at  hand, 
therefore,  gather  up  your  effects  and  gather  together  upon 
the  land  which  the  Lord  has  appointed  for  your  safety. 

D.AVID  W.  PATTEN. 

The  summer  of  1838,  found  the  Saints  gathered  into 
Far  West,  and  located  in  the  surrounding  settlements,  to 
the  number  of  not  less  than  twelve  thoii^and  souls.  The 
old  spirit  of  mobocracy  began  to  show  itself  again .  An  oc- 
casion was  afforded  for  an  outbreak  by  the  August  election 
at  Gallatin  in  Caldwell  County,  where  the  Saints  were  un- 


62  LIFE    OF    DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

]  awfully  prevented  from  voting.  From  that  time  forward 
until  their  banishment  from  the  State  the  following  win- 
ter, the  Saints  in  the  outlying  settlements  and  on  their 
farms,  were  kept  in  constant  fear.  Bands  of  lawless  men 
roamed  the  country  over,  destroying  crops,  burning  houses, 
ravishing  women,  and  driving  the  objects  of  their  hatred 
into  Far  West,  their  only  place  of  safety. 

Wherever  assistance  or  defense  was  needed,  Apostle 
David  W.  Patten  was  to  the  rescue  among  the  foremost, 
and  his  bravery  soon  won  for  him  the  title  of  "Captain 
Fear  Not."  In  his  presence  the  oppressed  found  a  cham- 
pion, and  at  his  approach  the  wicked  were  filled  with  ter- 
ror. 

About  the  middle  of  October  David  was  placed  in 
command  of  nearly  sixty  men,  and  ordered  to  disperse  a 
mob  in  the  vicinity  of  Gallatin.  Of  this  expedition  it  is 
recorded  : 

"When  Patten's  company  came  in  sight  of  Gallatin, 
he  found  a  body  of  the  mob,  about  one  hundred  strong, 
who  were  amusing  themselves  by  mocking,  and  in  various 
ways  tantalizing  a  number  of  the  Saints"  whom  they  had 
captured.  Seeing  the  approach  of  Patten's  men,  and  know- 
ing the  determination  of  the  leader,  the  mob  broke  and 
ran  in  the  greatest  confusion,  leaving  their  prisoners  be- 
hind them." 

Probably  the  last  manifestation  of  David's  power 
with  the  Lord,  at  any  rate  the  last  of  which  any  account  is 
given,  occurred  about  this  time. 

With  others  he  had  gone  to  the  relief  of  an  isolated 
family  in  the  line  of  the  mob's  course,  and  had  found  the 


LIFE    OP    DAVID    W.    PATTEN.  63 

mother  with  several  children  homeless  and  destitute.  Pain- 
fully the  party  were  making  their  way  on  foot  to  Far  West 
across  the  prairie,  when  from  the  fright  she  had  received, 
the  mother,  in  a  delicate  condition  before,  was  threatened 
with  severe  sickness.  To  add  to  the  distressing  situation, 
a  heavy  storm  seemed  impending  and  the  rain  commenced 
to  descend. 

Always  full  of  sympathy  for  the  sorrowing,  David  at 
once  called  the  party  to  a  momentary  halt,  and,  stepping 
aside  into  the  tall  grass,  he  commanded  the  storm  to  cease 
until  the  woman  should  be  conveyed  to  a  place  of  shelter. 

Immediately,  it  is  related,  the  rain  was  stayed,  the  sky 
began  to  clear,  and  the  party  went  forward  to  their  desti- 
nation without  further  hindrance  or  discomfort. 

Of  the  terrible  conditions  now  confronting  the  Church 
Bishop  Orson  F.  Whitney  writes: 

"The  fall  and  winter  of  1838,  was  one  of  the  darkest 
periods  of  Church  history.  Mobocracy  on  one  hand,  and 
apostasy  on  the  other,  dealt  the  cause  of  God  cruel  blows, 
such  as  no  human  work  could  have  hoped  to  withstand. 
The  tempest  of  persecution,  briefly  lulled,  burst  forth  with 
tenfold  fury;  no  longer  a  city  or  county — -a  whole  State 
rose  in  arms  against  God's  people,  bent  upon  their  destruc- 
tion. 'The  dogs  of  war5  were  loosed  upon  the  helpless 
Saints,  and  murder  and  rapine  held  high  carnival  amid  the 
smoking  ruins  of  peaceful  homes  and  ravaged  fields. 

"Then  fell  the  mask  from  the  face  of  hypocrisy. 
Treason  betrayed  itself.  Apostles,  Presidents,  and  Elders 
fell  from  the  faith  and  joined  hands  with  the  robbers  and 
murderers  of  their  brethren.  Satan  laughed!  The  very 


(54  LIFE    OF    DAVID    W.    PATTEN. 

mouth  of  hell  seemed  opening  to  engulf  the  Kingdom 
which  He  who  cannot  lie  has  sworn  shall  stand  forever." 
We  quote  President  George  Q.  Cannon: 
"Unable  to  bear  the  pressure  and  to  face  the  terrors 
of  the  times,,  Thomas  B.  Marsh  had  apostatized  and  had 
joined  with  McLellin  and  other  evil  men  to  act  the  part 
of  Judas  against  the  Prophet.  The  faith  of  others  also 
failed,,  and,,  thinking  by  apostasy  to  save  themselves  from 
the  destruction  which  seemed  impending,,  they  came  out 
against  Joseph  and  the  Church  and  went  over  to  their  en- 
emies." 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  Church,  when  Apostle 
David  W.  Patten,  then  the  senior  member  and  President  of 
the  Quorum  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  performed  the  last 
heroic  act  of  his  noble  career. 

VIII. 

His  last  call  to  arms— Battl«  of  Crooked  river— David  mortally 
wounded— The  closing  scene— Wilford  Woodruff's  testimony 
—Testimony  of  the  Prophet  Joseph— His  place  behind  the  veil 
revealed. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  a  messenger  came  into  Far 
West  bringing  news  of  a  band  of  invaders  under  command 
of  Eev.  Samuel  Bogart,  who  had  boasted  that,  if  he  had 
good  luck  in  meeting  Neil  Gillum,  another  mobocrat  lead- 
er, he  would  give  Far  West  thunder  and  lightning  before 
noon  next  day.  Joseph  Holbrook  and  David  Judah  were 
at  once  dispatched  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  despoil- 
ers.  Near  midnight  these  -brethren  returned,  and  reported 
that  the  mob,  after  plundering  the  house  of  Father  Pink- 


LIFE    OF   DAVID    W.    PATTEN.  65 

ham,  west  of  the  city,  had  made  prisoners  of  Nathan  Pink- 
ham,  William  Seely  and  Addison  Green,  whom  they  had 
declared  their  intentions  to  kill  that  night. 

"On  hearing  the  report,"  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith 
records,  "Judge  Higbee,  the  first  Judge  of  the  county,  or- 
dered Lieutenant  Colonel  Hinkle*,  the  highest  officer  in 
command  in  Far  West,  to  send  out  a  company  to  disperse 
the  mob  and  retake  their  prisoners  whom  it  was  reported, 
they  intended  to  murder  that  night. 

"The  trumpet  sounded,  and  the  brethren  were  assem- 
bled on  the  Public  Square  about  midnight,  when  the  facts 
were  stated,  and  about  seventy-five  volunteered  to  obey  the 
Judge's  order,  under  command  of  David  W.  Patten,  who 
immediately  commenced  their  march  on  horseback,  hoping 
to  surprise  and  scatter  the  camp,  retake  the  prisoners,  and 
prevent  the  attack  threatened  upon  Far  West,  without  the 
loss  of  blood." 

Apostle  Parley  P.  Pratt,  who  was  among  the  volun- 
teers ,  thus  graphically  describes  that  midnight  march  : 

"The  company  was  soon  under  way,  having  to  ride 
through  extensive  prairies,  a  distance  of  some  twelve  miles. 
The  night  was  dark,  the  distant  plains  far  and  wide  were 
illuminated  by  blazing  fires,  immense  columns  of  smoke 
were  seen  rising  in  awful  majesty,  as  if  the  world  was  on 
fire.  This  scene  of  grandeur  can  only  be  comprehended 
by  those  acquainted  with  the  scenes  of  prairie  burning;  as 
the  fire  sweeps  over  millions  of  acres  of  dry  grass  in  the 
fall  season,  and  leaves  a  smooth  surface  divested  of  all 
vegetation.  Bancroft ,  Library 

"A  thousand  meteors  blazing  in  the  distance  like  the 


66  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

camp  fires  of  some  war  host,  threw  a  fitful  gleam  of  light 
upon  the  distant  sky,  which  many  might  have  mistaken 
for  the  Aurora  Borealis,  This  scene,  added  to  the  silence 
of  the  midnight,  the  rumbling  sound  of  the  tramping 
steeds,  over  the  hard  and  dried  surface  of  the  plain,  the 
clanking  of  the  swords  in  their  scabbards,  the  occasional 
gleam  of  bright  armour  in  the  flickering  firelight,  the 
gloom  of  surrounding  darkness,  and  the  unknown  destiny 
of  the  expedition,  or  even  of  the  people  who  sent  it  forth 
— all  combined  to  impress  the  mind  with  deep  and  solemn 
thought,  and  to  throw  a  romantic  vision  over  the  imagina- 
tion, which  is  not  often  experienced,  except  in  the  poet's 
dream,  or  in  the  wild  imagery  of  sleeping  fancy. 

"In  this  solemn  procession  we  moved  on  for  some  two 
hours,  when  it  was  supposed  we  were  in  the  neighborhood 
of  danger." 

Dismounting  here  the  company  tied  their  horses  to 
the  field  fence  of  Randolph  McDonald,  and,  leaving  a  few 
men  to  guard  the  horses,  pro>ceeded  on  foot  across  the 
country  by  three  different  routes  to  the  "Field  house," 
where  it  was  thought  the  mob  were  encamped.  David,  with 
a  third  of  the  party,  took  the  way  around  the  field  to  the 
right,  sending  Apostle  Charles  C.  Eich,  in  charge  of  an- 
other company,  to  the  left;  while  a  third,  under  James 
Durfee,  went  directly  across.  All  were  to  meet  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Field. and  take  the  enemy  by  surprise.  When  the 
forces  reached  the  point  of  meeting,  however,  no  foe  was 
in  sight. 

It  was  now  concluded  that  the  mob  must  have  camped 
at  the  ford  below  on  Crooked  river,  and  after  a  short  ex- 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  67 

hortation  from  Captain  Patten  to  trust  in  the  Lord  for 
victory,  a  march  was  ordered  along  the  road  to  that  point. 
As  the  party  neared  the  river  in  the  early  morning  just  at 
day-break,  a  voice  was  heard  calling,  "Who  comes  there  ?" 
and  at  the  same  instant  a  shot  was  fired,  when  a  young 
man,  P.  O'Bannion,  reeled  and  fell  from  the  ranks  mor- 
tally wounded.  Captain  Patten  at  once  ordered  a  charge 
and  the  company  rushed  forward  only  to  see  two  men,  who 
had  heen  on  guard,  running  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy 
on  the  river  bank  below.  Immediately  all  was  confusion  in 
the  camp,  but  it  was  still  so  dark  that  nothing  could  be 
seen  with  distinctness  by  the  brethren  looking  to  the  west, 
while  their  forms  could  be  clearly  outlined  in  the  eastern 
light  by  the  mob,  who  were  soon  in  position  behind  the 
river  bank  below.  David  has  just  ranged  his  company  in 
line,  not  more  than  fifty  yards  from  the  camp,  when  a 
deadly  fire  was  opened  upon  them  from  behind  the  em- 
bankment. An  answering  fire  was  immediately  ordered 
and  with  the  watch-word  "God  and  liberty,"  on  his  lips, 
David,  ordering  a  charge,  ran  forward. 

The  mob  fled  in  confusion  before  the  rush  that  fol- 
lowed and  the  field  was  quickly  won;  but  as  David  led  the 
pursuit  down  the  river  bank,  a  mobber  who  had  taken 
refuge  behind  a  tree  for  a  momentary  pause  before  taking 
to  the  river,  turned  and  shot  him  in  the  abdomen. 

The  mob  routed,  his  brethren  gathered  about  their 
wounded  leader  in  deepest  sorrow,  and  everything  possible 
was  done  tb  minister  to  his  comfort.  Word  was  dispatched 
to  Far  West  for  medical  assistance  to  ineet  the  party,  the 
wagons  of  the  mob  were  pressed  into  service,  and  the  vie- 


(jg  LIFE    OF    DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

torious,  but  sorrow-stricken  company  took  up  their  dreary 
march  toward  Far  West.  Seven  of  the  brethren  were 
wounded,  and  one,  Gideon  Carter,  had  been  killed  out- 
right. 

After  riding  a  few  miles  in  a  wagon,  David's  suffering 
became  so  intense  he  was  placed  on  a  litter  and  carried  by 
his  brethren. 

Without  delay,  on  receiving  the  mournful  intelli- 
gence, the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  with  his  brother  Hyrum, 
Apostle  Heber  C.  Kimball  and  Elder  Amasa  M.  Lyman, 
with  others,  as  also  David's  grief-stricken  wife,  made  all 
haste  to  meet  the  sorrowful  cavalcade. 

President  Heber  C.  Kimball  describes  the  closing 
scene  : 

"Immediately  on  receiving  the  intelligence  that 
Brother  Patten  was  wounded,  I  hastened  to  see  him  and 
found  him  in  great  pain,  but  still  he  was  glad  to  see  me; 
he  was  conveyed  about  four  miles  to  the  house  of  Brother 
Stephen  Winchester;  during  his  removal  his  sufferings 
were  so  excruciating  that  he  frequently  desired  us  to  lay 
him  down  that  he  might  die ;  but  being  desirous  to  get  him 
out  of  the  reach  of  the  mob,  we  prevailed  upon  him  to  let 
us  carry  him  among  his  friends.  We  carried  him  on  a  kind 
of  bier,  fixed  up  from  poles. 

"Although  he  had  medical  assistance,  his  wound  was 
such  that  there  was  no  hope  entertained  of  his  recovery, 
and  this  he  was  perfectly  aware  of.  In  this  situation,  while 
the  shades  of  time  were  lowering,  and  eternity  with  all  its 
realities  opening  to  his  view,  he  bore  a  strong  testimony  to 
the  truth  of  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  the  religion  he  had 


LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  69 

espoused.  He  was  perfectly  sensible  and  collected  until  lie 
breathed  his  last,  which  occurred  at  about  ten  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  Stephen  Winchester,  Brother  Patten's  wife, 
Bathsheba  W.  Bigler,  with  several  of  her  father's  family 
were  present  at  David's  death. 

"The  principles  of  the  Gospel  which  were  so  precious 
to  him  before,  afforded  him  that  support  and  consolation 
at  the  time  of  his  departure,  which  deprived  death  of  its 
sting  and  horror.  Speaking  of  those  who  had  fallen  from 
their  steadfastness,  he  exclaimed,  '0  that  they  were  in  my 
situation !  For  I  feel  that  I  have  kept  the  faith,  I  have  fin- 
ished my  course,  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  will  give  me/ 
Speaking  to  his  beloved  wife,  he  said,  'Whatever  you  do 
else,  0  do  not  deny  the  faith.'  He  all  the  time  expressed 
a  great  desire  to  depart.  I  said  to  him,  'Brother  David, 
when  you  get  home,  I  want  you  to  remember  me.'  He  re- 
plied, 'I  will.'  At  this  time  his  sight  was  gone.  A  few 
minutes  before  he  died,  he  prayed  as  follows,  'Father,  I 
ask  Thee  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  thou  wouldst 
release  my  spirit,  and  receive  it  unto  Thyself/  And  he 
then  said  to  those  who  surrounded  his  dying  bed, 
'Brethren,  you  have  held  me  by  your  faith,  but  do  give  me 
up,  and  let  me  go,  I  beseech  you/  We  accordingly  com- 
mitted him  to  God,  and  he  soon  breathed  his  last,  and 
slept  in  Jesus  without  a  groan. 

"This  was  the  death  of  one  who  was  an  honor  to  the 
Church,  and,  a  blessing  to  the  Saints;  and  whose  faith, 
virtue  and  diligence  in  the  cause  of  truth  will  be  had  in 
remembrance  by  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  from  gener- 


70  LIFE    OF   DAVID   W.    PATTEN. 

ation  to  generation.  It  was  a  painful  way  to  be  deprived 
of  the  labors  of  this  worthy  servant  of  Christ,  and  it  cast 
a  gloom  upon  the.  Saints;  yet  the  glorious  and  sealing 
testimony  which  he  bore  of  his  acceptance  with  heaven  and 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel  was  a  matter  of  joy  and  satisfac- 
tion, not  only  to  his  immediate  friends,  but  to  the  Saints  at 
large/'' 

Of  the  death  of  his  friend,  President  Wilford  Wood- 
ruff writes  : 

"Thus  fell  the  noble  David  W.  Patten  as  a  martyr  for 
the  causa  of  God  and  he  will  receive  a  martyr's  crown.  He 
was  valiant  in  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ  while  he  lived 
upon  the  earth.  He  was  a  man  of  great  faith  and  the  power 
of  God  was  with  him.  He  was  brave  to  a  fault,  even  too 
brave  to  be  preserved.  He  apparently  had  no  fear  of  man 
about  him. 

"Many  of  the  sick  were  healed  and  devils  cast  out 
under  his  administration." 

In  closing  his  account  of  the  tragedy,  the  Prophet 
Joseph  says: 

"Brother  David  W.  Patten  was  a  very  worthy  man, 
beloved  by  all  good  men  who  knew  him.  He  was  one  of 
the  Twelve  Apostles,  and  died  as  he  lived,  a  man  of  God, 
and  strong  in  the  faith  of  a  glorious  resurrection,  in  a 
world  where  mobs  will  have  no  power  or  place." 

With  David's  wish,  formerly  expressed  to  him,  to  die 
as  a  martyr,  no  doubt  in  mind,  the  Prophet  Joseph,  at  the 
funeral  on  October  27,  1838,  pointing  to  his  lifeless  body, 
testified: 


LIFE    OF    DAVID   W.    PATTEN.  71 

"There  lies  a  man  that  has  done  just  as  he  said  he 
W0uld — he  has  laid  down  his  life  for  his  friends/' 

And  one  mightier  has  said.: 

"Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay 
down  his  life  for  his  friend." 

A  fit  ending  of  a  glorious  career! 

The  remains  were  laid  to  rest  with  military  honors  at 
Far  West,  and  the  grave  is  now  unmarked  and  unknown, 
but  of  the  noble  spirit,  the  Lord,  in  a  revelation  a  few  years 
subsequent  to  his  departure,  vouchsafed  this  intelligence: 

"David  Patten  I  have  taken  unto  myself;  behold,  his 
Priesthood  no  man  taketh  from  him;  but  verily  I  say  unto 
you,  another  may  be  appointed  unto  the  same  calling." 

And  again,  in  speaking  of  Lyman  Wight,  who  suc- 
ceeded David  in  the  Apostleship,  the  Lord  says  : 

"That  when  he  shall  finish  his  work,  that  I  may  re- 
ceive him  unto  myself,  even  as  I  did  my  servant  David 
Patten,  who  is  with  me  at  this  time." 

If,  then,  to  repeat,  we  say  that  great  men  are  the 
Lord's  object  lessons  to  the  world  by  whom  He  holds  out 
to  mankind  the  truths  committed  to  their  generation,  what 
of  the  life  before  us? 

From  the  time  David  heard  the  Gospel,  his  earnest 
nature  entered  with  full  purpose  of  heart  upon  the  work 
he  was  sent  from  the  courts  on  high  to  perform,  his  whole 
soul  was  given  over  to  faithfully  bearing  the  message  of 
his  life: 


72  LIFE    OF    DAVID    W.    PATTEN. 

GOD  GIVES  US  ALL  THE  POWER  WE  HAVE, 

and  though  in  the  one  desire  to  give  his  life  as  a  martyr, 
it  may  be  said  he  fell  short  of  the  ideal : 

THY  WILL  NOT  MINE  BE  DONE; 

yet,  without  doubt,  in  making  up  the  roll  of  his  noble  and 
great  ones,  Time  will  place  next  to  those  of  the  Prophet 
and  Patriarch  martyrs,  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith,  the 
name  of  the  first  Apostolic  martyr,  David  W.  Patten. 


